Ministry To Draw Up Plan On Bumiputera Development In Auto Sector
The International Trade and Industry Ministry will draw up a plan on Bumiputera development in the automotive sector, the Dewan Rakyat was told Thursday.
Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin said an audit had been conducted on the holders of permits for the importation of vehicles (APs) to re-evaluate their capabilities in developing the sector.
Results from the audit would be used to draw up the Bumiputera Development Plan in the Automotive Sector and probably introduce open tenders for APs, he said.
“We have obtained a clear picture on the standing of each AP holder with regard to their capabilities, products and pricing; everything is almost ready.
“We want to draw up new guidelines besides the development plan. Perhaps in the next 10 or 20 years, there will be not only one or two companies, but 10 or 20 which are bigger and able to dominate the car market in the country,” he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2009.
He said the audit would also put a check on the sale of APs by the original holders to a third party who reaps bigger profits from the sale of vehicles.
“I have been given an early briefing where I saw it is true that most AP holders do not run real business. There are many new revelations from the audit that we did,” he said.
Muhyiddin also said Malaysia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) this year showed a 40 percent increase to US$8.4 billion from US$6 billion previously.
“The World Investment Report 2008 published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on Sept 24 reported the FDI increase to Malaysia. The increase is in line with the 18 percent FDI increase to Asean countries to US$61 billion,” he said.
He said that according to a study by the Institute Management of Development reported in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2008, Malaysia ranked 19th in terms of competitivess compared to 23rd a year before.
He also said 562 manufacturing projects worth RM49.8 billion were approved in the Jan-Aug period this year with foreign investment making up 73.9 percent of the value compared to 627 projects worth RM35.8 billion in the same period last year.
source : BERNAMA
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