CYBERJAYA: Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will coordinate a meeting with the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) and relevant stakeholders next week on the delay in approving new cars pricing.
MITI Deputy Minister Ong Kian Ming said the ministry is expected to conclude the decision after the meeting to resolve the pending approval for new vehicles pricing.
“We want to have more in-depth dialogues over this issue. We will have a press conference after the meeting next week to let know the meeting’s outcome,” he said after the overview of the automotive industry in 2018 and outlook for 2019 media briefing, here, today.
MAA had on Wednesday slammed the government over its inability to make decisions on tax incentives for qualified locally assembled vehicles, causing postponement for new vehicles pricing and launches.
MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad had said the delay has affected locally assembled vehicles that are applying for tax incentives under the Industrial Linkage Programme (ILP).
She added that the delays of up to seven months had subsequently impacted the sales of new vehicles this year.
Aishah claimed that the delay was attributed to the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) refusal to make decisions, thus left it to a new government body under MITI, known as the Automotive Business Development Committee (ABDC).
She said this has made the entire pricing approval process more cumbersome, affecting the country’s car sales.
The members of the committee includes representatives from the MoF, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.