KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will launch the new National Automotive Policy or NAP2020 – which is seen as crucial in raising the country's automotive industry to the next phase of industrial competitiveness – on Feb 21.
“NAP2020 is formulated to elevate Malaysia’s automotive industry to the next phase of industrial competitiveness, in line with the changing landscape of mobility within the global markets, ” the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement on Thursday. The unveiling of the details of the much-awaited policy will be at the ministry.
MITI said the automotive sector has been a prime mover of Malaysia’s industrialisation drive since the early 1980’s in allowing meaningful participation of Malaysian businesses and talents in the fields of science, engineering and technology.
It pointed out the sector has grown into a national automotive ecosystem that includes vehicle manufacturers, parts and components suppliers, engineering services, full-fledged product and process design facilities.
It has also created a robust aftermarket segment and accelerated the critical mass of talent involved in other high value sectors along the industry’s value chain and across the manufacturing sector.
“To ensure a continuation of such meaningful participation within the industry, the government has put emphasis on resources to ensure that the next technology acceleration curve would be in line with emerging trends surrounding transportation and mobility, as well as, allowing for clean energy technology adoption, ” it said.
MITI also added the government focuses on building strategic ties with industry players towards enhancing local talents’ capacity and development.
“Supporting the growth of automotive players remains as key priority area embedded in the policy.
“The government has taken into account all feedbacks obtained from the industry as well as improvement opportunities learned from previous national automotive policies, ” it said.
MITI said the NAP2020 is a product of arduous benchmarking, longstanding research, strategic planning and rigorous consultation with various stakeholders to determine the right balance between the current needs of industry players and the requirement to align those strategies with future demands of global automotive and mobility trends.
