Govt receives 14 proposals on new national car — MITI

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has received 14 proposals on the new national car from the private sector and individuals.

Deputy Minister Dr Ong Kian Ming said the government would have to take into consideration the National Automotive Policy (NAP) and identify the national automotive industry’s direction holistically before studying the economic impact of a third national car.

“At the moment, we have not evaluated all the proposals for the new car project,” he said.

He was answering questions from Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak) and Wong Chen (PH-Subang) during the questionand-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here yesterday.

Ong said the amount of investment for the project and the government and private sector’s involvement would be fully driven by the private sector, adding that the government would only help in terms of facilities and specific assistance, depending on the company’s commitment.

He stressed that the automotive industry is an important and strategic element in the Malaysian manufacturing sector.

The automotive industry and other automotive-related sectors employed more than 700,000 people and contributed almost four per cent to the national gross domestic product.

“It is very important for national growth and the new national car project is expected to boost Malaysia’s engineering and technological capabilities.

“Currently, the government is in the midst of reviewing the NAP to include elements which are in line with the advancements in mobility technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) to ensure that the local automotive industry is parallel with current developments globally,” said Ong.