Third national car blueprint to be presented to PM in two weeks

KUALA LUMPUR: The blueprint to drive the third national car project will be presented to the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in two weeks and then submitted to the Cabinet for approval, says Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof.

He said a deadline for submissions for the project's vendor development programme would be established once the blueprint was completed, adding that more than 50 local vendors had submitted their applications to the ministry.

“The third national car project will be what the market wants. Cars nowadays are like gadgets when looking at the technology. So, we are shaping the car based on our capability and on the environment that is provided by the world in terms of technology and application,” he told reporters at the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) SME Conference 2018 here on Monday.

Mohd Redzuan said the establishment of the new car project would be among the main drivers to boost the manufacturing sector's contribution to the economy.

He said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which formed the backbone of the economy were highly concentrated in the services sector, which accounted for 89.2 per cent of SMEs.

“We need the manufacturing sector to spin off the services sector. Hence, there is a need to upgrade and graduate the micro and small players to become medium enterprises,” he said.

Out of 907,065 SMEs in the country, 76.5 per cent are micro players, 21.2 per cent are small sized and the remaining 2.3 per cent are medium enterprises.

Meanwhile, FMM President Datuk Soh Thian Lai said there was a strong need for SMEs to re-engineer their operations by embracing Industry Revolution 4.0 technology.

“There were three significant game-changing plans announced by the government, namely the 2019 Budget, the Mid-Term Review of the 11th Malaysia Plan and the launch of the National Policy on Industry 4.0.

“We certainly need to digest these development plans closely. We hope to receive clearer directions and details through the implementation of various programmes and initiatives,” Soh said.

He also emphasised on the need to support the manufacturing sector by ensuring a business-friendly operating and investment environment. - Bernama