Chennai: India's leading CAD/CAE training and services company, CADD centre, is planning to make a foray into Malaysia and as a first step in this direction, will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Perak Foundation on October 4, to kick off its operations, initially through a network of franchise centres.

The MOU, which will be signed in the presence of the Chief Minister of the state of Perak, will envisage, among other things, the starting point for joint co-operation for development and delivery of existing and new courses to the people of Malaysia, R Parthasarathy, executive director of the CADD centre group of companies, told in Chennai on October 3.

CADD centre has planned to set up six to ten centres in Malaysia in the next one year. Presently, CADD education in Malaysia is restricted to entry-level courses. Shortly, it will concentrate on the mid and advanced level courses also.

Parthasarathy said the CADD would invest about half to 1 million US Dollars in stages over the next two years in Malaysia. "If all goes well, we may even open our subsidiary company there," he said adding that Malaysia would soon become the hub of CADD activities in the ASEAN region. 'From Malaysia, we plan to expand into China and Australia'.

CADD centre, one of the largest dedicated CAD (computer aided design) training institutions in the world, now offers start-to-end industry specific courses for engineers in the areas of automotive, aerospace, power, and heavy engineering, through a network of 55 training centres.

Perak Foundation is a state-owned statutory body of Perak state in Malaysia, with powers to participate in variety of business activities and promotion of education.

PTI