Govt hopes to unveil ‘flying car’ prototype as early as October

KUALA LUMPUR: The government plans to unveil the prototype of the so-called “flying vehicle” project as early as this October, the Dewan Rakyat was told Tuesday (July 2).

Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof said all the intellectual property including design, cost and software of the air mobility vehicle will be fully owned by the local company that is developing it.

“The Ministry only plays its role as a development facilitator of the air mobility industry ecosystem, especially in the drafting of policies, regulations and support for local players to fulfil the need of the industry,” he told Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PAS-Pasir Puteh) during Question Time.

Nik Muhammad Zawawi had asked the ministry on the status of the development of the flying vehicle project.

The model of the flying vehicle made its debut at this year's Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition, which was attended by the Prime Minister.

Mohd Redzuan said the air mobility industry was among the areas identified by the ministry that has high marketability potential in local and international markets.

This is especially important in the infrastructure, security, agriculture sectors, he added.

“The air mobility industry uses the latest application technology like drones, big data analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), mobility and the Internet of Things (IoT), which are growing swiftly at the international level,” Mohd Redzuan.

He said that if the government does not provide the needed ecosystem needed and laws required by local players and companies, Malaysia would be left behind.

“We have initiated several discussions with the relevant ministries, including the Transport Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority, to look into some space and the laws needed so we will be prepared and allow the industry to grow.

“Other countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have invited us to see the launch of their flying vehicle project and they have started to create laws from three years ago,” he said.

On a separate matter, Mohd Redzuan revealed that a total of 11 projects had been approved for the aerospace sector with investments worth RM816mil to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida).

“From the total, four projects are owned by international companies with investments worth RM338mil (41%) while seven projects are owned by local companies with domestic investments worth RM478mil (59%),” he said.

He said that of the 11 projects, 10 had involve aerospace manufacturing activities to produce components and parts of airplanes, such as machines, machined metal parts as well as aero-structure parts and surface treatment services.