Ex-MITI Minister on closure of Goodyear plant: Why boast of new MoUs when existing investors are leaving

“A bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush,” said former MITI Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz regarding the government's frequent announcements of announcements of MoU signings, while existing investment partners leave.

“The government must quickly respond to such developments. While touting around, the billions of possible investments expectations, being mooted, and discussed...it is so important that industrial and business entities, which are already here, do not close shop...and leave for other countries. we must never rely upon the so called  explanation of the signing of the so-called  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU),” she said on her official Facebook page.

“The government must get the full facts of how many companies have shut down operations in Malaysia, where have they moved to, why have they stopped operations in Malaysia? Analyse what were the push factors, which drove them to shut down and to add insult to injury - relocated elsewhere!

“These push factors can be damning illustrations of what investors already operating in Malaysia, find untenable about continuing to operate here. There are pull and push factors at work , to determine investors decisions. It is pointless to tout the would be’s when what is already here, is gone,” she added.

Rafidah served as MITI Minister from 1990 to 2008.

Sometimes called Malaysia’s Iron Lady, longtime car industry executives still rate as the best MITI Minister Malaysia ever had. Though firm, they appreciated her predictability and consistency at work.

Yesterday, Goodyear Asia Pacific announced the closure of its Shah Alam plant. Goodyear products will remain in Malaysia, but the company will cease manufacturing operations here. About 550 jobs will be affected.

The Goodyear Shah Alam plant opened in 1972.

Goodyear maintains manufacturing operations in Thailand, Indonesia, India, and China. These plants will continue to supply tyres to Malaysia.

With the Goodyear plant’s closure, Toyo and Continental are the only two remaining options left for car manufacturers operating in Malaysia. Malaysia offers excise tax rebates for locally produced cars based on the value of local content used, thus locally produced tyres are preferred.