Unsurprising U-turn: Cars on the assembly line at Tesla’s Giga Texas manufacturing facility in Austin. Musk has opted against investing in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand after months of aggressive courting by leaders of these countries of his EV brand. — AFP
KUALA LUMPUR: A representative from Tesla’s headquarters in the United States will be meeting with the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) on Aug 22 to discuss the corporation’s investment plans in Malaysia.
Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the previous agreement with Tesla was for it to invest in Malaysia’s electric vehicle (EV) charging and research and development ecosystem as well as related sectors.
“With regard to the issue of Tesla’s factory (in Thailand) that is being widely discussed, as of now, the information received was only a report from a third party and not officially from Tesla.
“To be fair to Tesla, they had not made any promises to open a factory here,” he said.
The minister told reporters this after officiating the Mini Miti day programme and groundbreaking ceremony for the multipurpose hall built under the Kampung Angkat Madani programme in Kampung Tebuk Mufrad, Sungai Air Tawar on Saturday.
Tengku Zafrul said an official statement would be released following the meeting with Tesla.
“I also wish to know what their plans are. For now, Tesla’s existing service centre will continue to operate as usual,” he added.
To date, Tesla has set up four experience centres in Malaysia, and the automotive company said it plans to develop 52 EV charging stations in various locations throughout the Klang Valley, Johor, Melaka, Penang and Pahang. — Bernama
