Green transition must promote social, economic equity - MITI

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will strive to ensure that policies on green transition must be just and must promote social and economic equity.

Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said governments around the world are grappling with a new challenge - striking a balance between supporting inclusive economic development and growth, ensuring secure and reliable energy access, and promoting environmental sustainability.

"It is important that governments collaborate to align legal and regulatory frameworks in order to promote investments.

"MITI is committed to drive efforts to attract more electric vehicle (EV) investments and to meet the national target of 15 per cent total industry volume (TIV) for EV and hybrid by 2030, and 38 per cent TIV by 2040," he said.

Tengku Zafrul said this at a joint-venture (JV) agreement signing ceremony between Computer Forms Malaysia Bhd (CFM) and Energy Absolute (EA) Public Company Ltd (PCL) Thailand at St Regis Kuala Lumpur today.

He also said the alliance signifies a promising partnership to drive the sustainability agendas of both countries in the EV and renewal energy (RE) sectors.

"It is important that governments collaborate to align legal and regulatory frameworks in order to promote investments such as this joint-venture between CFM and EA.

"The combination of RE and greening public transportation will encourage inclusive economic growth that will benefit both Thailand and Malaysia," he said.

The signing ceremony seals the RM5 billion investment pledge to set up a Malaysian manufacturing plant by the JV company to handle EV and RE projects using the core competencies of both companies, the statement said.

The two companies will form a JV company Energy Absolute Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Joint investments will be driven by new teams from both countries to integrate clean energy and mobility solutions to help corporations decarbonise effectively.

"CFM and EA plan to produce lithium-ion batteries and invest in energy storage systems and charging stations to support Malaysia's EV ecosystem," the statement said.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said in his Facebook post that the JV company will build an EV manufacturing facility specifically for the transportation sector that includes all modes of electrified transportation - buses, school buses, boats, motorcycles, EV batteries, trains, mobile electric cars - worth a total of RM5 billion.

-- BERNAMA