Anthony Loke: Malaysia aims to woo more Chinese marques to offer EVs here

Malaysians can expect more electric vehicles (EVs) from China in the near future as the country aims to woo more investors from the Middle Kingdom to expand the infrastructure here.

According to an interview between Transport Minister Anthony Loke and Xinhua News Agency, the biggest hurdle for the adoption of EVs in Malaysia is the charging infrastructure, but the government is looking to overcome this by wooing Chinese companies to set up their operations in Malaysia.

Anthony Loke mentioned that EVs are the future and it will shape Malaysia’s public transport and personal mobility and the country must prepare itself.

Also Read: Here's the list of every EV officially on sale in Malaysia, currently in 2022

Speaking to Xinhua News Agency, "As I said, the trend will come. We have to put in place our readiness to welcome the trend. Our industrial policies are encouraging more EV-related industries to be relocated to Malaysia, especially on producing batteries in Malaysia. There are incentives in place to encourage more companies to relocate to Malaysia and I was made to understand that there are a lot of Chinese companies who are actually interested to invest in Malaysia in terms of putting their plants here and so on," he said.

Also Read: EV sales in Malaysia expected to rise by more than 45% in 2023, according to analysts

Anthony added, "We have many projects in the pipeline, but how do we connect it together and to make sure that it is a seamless connectivity on the network, and eventually, of course, whatever we do, infrastructure must bring economic development,"

Furthermore, Anthony also said, "So, we must look at the transportation sector not just as transporting from point A to point B, but more as an economic multiplier effect. It must bring value to economic development. It must bring value to that particular region and area that you have that transportation network. So whatever transportation project that we do, we must look at the economic side of it."