Investments of RM14.1b approved in auto sector since 2013
Published on: Saturday, January 31, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Investments totalling RM14.1 billion have been approved in the automotive sector by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) since 2013, says International Trade and Investment Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.He said a large chunk of the investment at RM11.5 billion involved the automotive manufacturing, while after sales and services received RM2.6 billion."From these investments, RM4.9 billion was realised as at the end of last year, increasing the vehicle production capacity by 70,000 units per year," he told reporters at the National Automotive Policy (NAP) 2014 update here Friday.ADVERTISEMENT He said eight vehicle manufacturers were involved in the investments which is scheduled for completion by 2018, and would result in an increase in the existing production capacity by 330,000 units to 923,000 units per year.Mustapa said among the investments secured were from Perodua, Honda, Go Automobile, and Mazda.He said Perodua invested RM1.8 billion in its new factory in Rawang to add an additional capacity of 100,000 vehicles, while creating 1,178 jobs.He added, that Honda invested RM1.4 billion in a new factory in Melaka with the aim of enhancing capacity to 50,000 vehicles and creating 1,792 jobs.ADVERTISEMENT Go Automobile invested RM398 million to boost additional capacity to 25,000 at its factory in Gurun, Kedah, while creating 160 additional jobs. Mazda invested RM11.2 million for a body and paint repair and training centre in Kulim, Kedah.Mustapa said three energy efficient vehicle (EEV) licences has been approved, while five more applications are still being studied.
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He said last year, Malaysia's total industry volume (TIV) grew 1.6 per cent to 666,465 units, compared with 655,793 units in 2013."Automotive exports at RM4.98 billion comprised motor vehicles, motorcycles, components and parts for the 11-month period since January last year, while imports stood at RM17.03 billion."A total of 21,072 new jobs were also been created in 2014, comprising mostly technicians, skilled and semi-skilled workers and engineers," he added.According to Mustapa, in terms of talent development, the NAP had successfully trained 8,075 people through the Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI)."Almost all of the trainees secured jobs in the industry at salaries about 25 per cent higher than the industry average."MAI's initiatives, through the implementation of a lean production system (LPS) and automotive supplier excellence programme (ASEP), also improved the competitiveness of automotive suppliers."These initiatives also improved productivity by 21.5 per cent and generated cost savings of RM601.3 million among 277 vendors," he said.He said the NAP 2014 has also nurtured 250 Bumiputera companies in the automotive sector through several initiatives involving workshop transformation, establishing new motorcycle dealerships, automotive manufacturing and others.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"As at the end of last year, the 250 companies enjoyed cumulative additional revenue of RM83.6 million," he added.Meanwhile, on the development of technology, he said 21 technology projects were initiated as at the end of last year with a value of RM39.9 million and four of the projects has been commercialised. – Bernama