M’sia to unveil its first flying car prototype

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is expected to unveil its first flying car prototype to the public this year.

Minister of Entrepreneur Development Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof said the prototype - fully driven by local technology - is already available.

“This year is a realistic target because we have the technology already. It is all about speed of implementation,” he added.

Redzuan said the car would be safe and capable of flying at low altitudes at a reasonable speed.

“The prototype would cost slightly over RM1 million to build,” he told reporters after launching the Growth Malaysia initiative here yesterday.

Mohd Redzuan said through the flying car project, the government wanted to create an environment that stimulates people to think about new technologies.

“We are providing the catalyst and ecosystem to stimulate the people to think beyond what we are capable of doing today,” he added.

According to Mohd Redzuan, the project will also utilise the country’s capabilities in the aerospace, drone, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and automotive sectors.

“Malaysia has the skill set to excel in all these fields. We need to make full use of it, because the bottom line is we want to be a producing nation,” he said, adding that the project was separate from the third national car project envisioned by the Prime Minister.

On Growth Malaysia, Mohd Redzuan said the initiative was led by online to offline platform operator Fave to help offline retailers in Malaysia to go digital, in terms of payments, marketing, data and financial services. “This is in line with the ministry’s mission to widen and coordinate entrepreneurial activities, to be more targeted,” he said.

Fave founder Joel Neoh said the Growth Malaysia initiative aims to help 100,000 restaurants across Malaysia to grow digitally by 2020. “As the world goes digital, offline businesses especially those in the food and beverages, and retail sectors need to catch up and adapt to the growing shift in the behaviour of consumers, or risk being left behind,” he added.