National car policy review to be announced by year-end

by **hlk** Wed 27 Jul 2011, 08:08

PETALING JAYA: A review of the current National Automotive Policy (NAP) by the Government is expected to be announced by year-end.

A source familiar with the development said the new NAP, which is expected to be 100 pages long, would streamline the NAP that was reviewed in 2009 to facilitate the technological advancements and trends of the global automotive industry.

“The new NAP will be announced tentatively by this year. The review will be based on the current context of the (global) automotive industry. Some things (from the NAP that was reviewed in 2009) will remain while others will be improved upon,” the source told StarBiz.

He said that following the global economic recession in late 2008, many of the policies under the NAP needed to be relooked.

“There have been a lot of changes since 2009. Many global OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have changed their business and technology-related strategies. (Because of these changes) a review needs to be done on the NAP to ensure that it is in line with the latest developments.

“The review will consider the impact of implementing the policies that was introduced in 2009,” said the source.

News of the NAP being reviewed was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at the launch of Perodua's new Myvi model last month.

Muhyiddin was quoted as saying that the Government would “take a hard and objective look” into current policies and “do its part to facilitate growth”.

“This is a task we have assigned to the International Trade and Industry Ministry and the Malaysia Automotive Institute. We will ensure that all interested parties will be consulted in the review,” he was quoted in a local news report.

The source also said that stakeholders within the local automotive industry were consulted for NAP review.

“Various OEMs were met with directly to see what they wanted as it is important to have them continue investing in Malaysia.”

The NAP was first introduced in 2006 to help regulate the local automotive industry and help turn it into a regional, if not global hub. In 2009, it was reviewed to better reflect the changes to the automotive industry.

However, it has been widely criticised for not tackling key issues, such as the oft-abused approved permit system (whereby importers need to have one permit per car) and protectionism of local car companies.