Miti and Tesla to hold meeting on Aug 22

SABAK BERNAM: The International Trade and Industry Ministry and Tesla Inc. (Tesla) are scheduled to have a special meeting on Aug 22, says Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (pic).

He said that the meeting at the ministry's headquarters is meant to get a detailed explanation on the claims that Tesla will cancel plans to develop a factory in Southeast Asia.

The International Trade Minister said that this meeting is needed to get confirmation from Tesla, which has yet to issue an official statement.

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"We will meet with senior Tesla management from the United States in two weeks," he said.

Tengku Zafrul was reported as saying this by Sinar Harian after the groundbreaking ceremony of Kampung Angkat Madani and the Mini Mitiday at Masjid Kampung Tebuk Mufrad on Saturday (Aug 10).

He then said that any official statement about the meeting's outcome would be released by his ministry after getting Tesla's consent due to the internal nature of the company's issues.

Tengku Zafrul then added that the cancellation would not affect Malaysia's position as a regional electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing hub.

ALSO READ: Tesla never committed to building factory in Malaysia, says Zafrul

"Tesla had also previously made no commitment to open their factory in Malaysia," he added.

Previously, reports claimed Tesla would not build an EV manufacturing facility in Malaysia, Thailand, or Indonesia.

Citing a report from Thai newspaper The Nation, the EV producer is instead focusing on strengthening its charging station ecosystem.

On Friday (Aug 9), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that Tesla's failure to compete with EVs produced by Chinese companies led to the cancellation of their plans to expand manufacturing operations.