‘SILTERRA SEES ROLE IN NEW CAR PROJECT’
Company keen to supply integrated circuits for NNCP, says CEO
SILTERRA Malaysia Sdn Bhd insists that it can contribute positively to the new national car project (NNCP), brushing aside criticism over the semiconductor wafer company’s financial history.
Silterra chief executive officer and executive director Firdaus Abdullah said the company had discussed its potential participation in the NNCP with the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT).
“We have both the financial strength and technical capability to contribute to the NNCP,” he told NST Business via an email reply.
Firdaus was responding to concerns raised by critics, including MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, who said Silterra was the second-largest money loser for shareholder Khazanah Nasional Bhd with cumulative losses of RM7.3 billion for 10 years up to 2011.
Firdaus said Silterra had been recording positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) and was profitable for many years, a fact that rarely got reported in the news.
He said Silterra was keen to supply integrated circuits (ICs) for the new national car, adding that the company had been supplying ICs to many foreign Tier 1 electronic companies over the past decade.
“I think it is time we use the engineering experience and skills we have amassed to contribute to a project of national interest,” said Firdaus.
The NNCP, mooted by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is expected to see its first model hitting the market within two years, according to MIGHT president and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohd Yusoff Sulaiman.
The government is identifying investors and co-developers for the NNCP, a process that is likely to be finalised by year-end.
According to news reports, the NNCP would be privately-funded, leveraging on existing automotive components suppliers in the country.
Meanwhile, former Transport Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam welcomed the NNCP as the private sector would take on full responsibility in terms of entrepreneurship, risk and financing for the project.
However, he said the government should provide more details on the NNCP to win the people’s support and ensure better assessment of the proposal.
“There should not be any subsidies or tax protection as the NNCP should stand on its own merits in a test of viability and sustainability for the long run,” he said.
Sunway University Business School economics professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng said the NNCP would be a challenging and risky venture, given that all major global automotive players were focusing on electric vehicles (EVs).
“Unless local players have the cutting-edge technology, then there is no harm if they have the capability to pursue this project,” he said.
Yeah said it was vital for the government to find the right partners, equipped with the latest advanced technological capabilities to develop the car and to sustain the research and development with continued investment.
He said the new national car would likely have a combination of all technologies, including plug-in hybrid, EV, semi-autonomous or smart-vehicle, in line with the future automotive trends.