Malaysia will continue to target investments related to renewable energy and electric vehicles, and that strategies to achieve such goals are being discussed between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in a recent Budget 2022 dialogue, said MITI Minister Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali at today’s Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Minister Azmin Ali said the pursuit of attracting such investments are in line with National Investment Aspirations (NIA) which also focus on long-term sustainability, with emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) elements.

“To increase investment and demand for electric vehicle (EV) related investments, MITI is identifying new strategies to promote Malaysia’s EV industry to investors. These efforts include engaging with the Ministry of Finance several days ago, in preparation for the tabling of Budget 2022, to include a policy that includes incentive packages that focuses on growing the consumer and demand side of EVs, as well as strengthening existing incentives for manufacturing of EV components.

"This measure is expected to encourage investments in the production of EVs or their components and infrastructure support, including EV charging stations, as well as to drive consumer demand for EV vehicles," said Azmin.

The existing National Automotive Policy 2020 already offers several tax breaks for EV related investments, but details have been scarce, as the incentives centred around a 'customized' format. Separately, excise duty for battery electric vehicles are now capped at just 10 percent (normal rate: 60 percent to 105 percent). Import duty however, remains unchanged at 30 percent.

Previously, former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had announced that the National Budget 2022 will be tabled on 29-October.

PM Muhyiddin has since been replaced by Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, but the tabling of the National Budget is expected to continue as planned.