During the Australian Network Leader’s Summit, Minister Of Investment, Trade And Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the launch of the New Investment Policy (NIP) shall elevate Malaysia by increasing economic complexity, creating high value jobs, fostering inclusivity, and developing domestic linkages, underscored by the guiding principles of environment, social and governance.
The NIP also aims to build 5 key industries such as aerospace, chemicals, digital economy, electrical and electronics and pharmaceuticals. Also, the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP2030) which will be launched by the end of August will be linked to the National ESG Framework for the Manufacturing Sector (or i-ESG for short).
Both policies seek to transform Malaysia’s industries to build capacity and empower the nation to face the new world of many crises which are fast becoming a permanent state of key challenges. Among them are inflationary pressures, disrupted supply chain, talent crunch to tech threats, and many others.
Zafrul also brought attention to the electric vehicles (EV) sector, stating the possibility of having 38% of vehicles on the roads being hybrids or EV by 2040.
“With over 40% of Malaysians expressing interest in purchasing an EV as their next car, what we need to fulfil this demand is a solid EV ecosystem,” he said.
Zafrul said the multi-Ministry National EV Steering Committee (NEVSC) shall play a crucial role in this. To realise this dream, tax incentives for manufacturers and buyers have been introduced, while investments were made to charging infrastructures.
He is certain that the combined public-private effort will aid fulfil the nation’s target of establishing 10,000 charging stations across Malaysia by 2025. On a separate note, MITI’s trade and investment missions have secured RM230 billion of committed investments from four countries.
Zafrul shared that the approved investments in the first quarter of this year alone have witnessed a 60% year-on-year increase to RM71.4 billion. These figures represent over 1,200 projects, set to create 24,000 new job opportunities. Malaysia has also improved by five notches on the 2023 IMD World Competitive Ranking, now being ranked the 27th most competitive economy in the world.
