KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Malaysia's first-ever flying car – driven by local technology – is expected to be unveiled this year, says Datuk Seri Redzuan Md Yusof (pic).
The Entrepreneur Development Minister said a prototype of the car already exists.
"This year is a realistic target because we have the technology. It is all about the speed of implementation," he told reporters after launching the Growth Malaysia initiative here on Tuesday (Feb 26).
He said the car would be safe and capable of flying at low altitude at a reasonable speed.
"Investment to build the prototype was slightly over RM1mil," he said.
Mohd Redzuan said the flying car project is a way for the government to create an environment that stimulates people to think about new technology.
"We are providing the catalyst and ecosystem to stimulate the people to think beyond what we do today," he said.
He said the project is also to utilise the country's capabilities in the aerospace, drone, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and automotive sectors.
"Malaysia has the skill set to excel in the field of aerospace, drone, UAV and the national car. We need to use our skill set because the bottom line is we want to be a producing nation," he said.
However, he said the project is separate from the third national car project envisioned by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
On Growth Malaysia, he said the initiative is led by online to offline platform operator Fave to help Malaysian offline retailers to go digital in terms of payments, marketing, data and financial services.
Fave founder Joel Neoh said the initiative aims to help 100,000 restaurants across Malaysia to grow digitally by 2020.
He said collaborators for the initiative included Grab Malaysia, Maybank, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, Funding Societies and Productivity Nexus for Retail and Food and Beverages. – Bernama
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