LETTERS: The Malaysian economy registered a stronger growth of 8.7 per cent in 2022, exceeding the projection of 6.5 to 7 per cent made in October.
This performance indicates the recovery of private spending and investment, a decrease in unemployment and the strengthening of the ringgit.
However, the growth for this year is expected to moderate to 4.2 per cent as the environment will become more challenging amid more treacherous global headwinds.
This situation will be a test for the new government under the leadership of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to outline its new strategy to support economic growth, as well as private sector confidence in the growth momentum achieved in 2022 for the wellbeing of the people.
As a relatively small country by population, Malaysia's economy largely depends on trade and foreign direct investment (FDI).
Therefore, among the main challenges that needs to be resolved by the government is putting stable and the right policies in place to make the nation a conducive place for investment and business.
This includes offering lucrative incentives, especially in new and fully untapped sectors, such as electric vehicles (EV), in which the country is lagging compared with neighbouring Thailand and Indonesia.
A news portal recently reported that Indonesia targets at least 1.2 million electric motorcycle and 35,000 electric car adoptions by 2024.
Another portal reported that the national committee on EV policy of Thailand, or the EV board, on Feb 2 agreed in principle on a proposal to lower the excise tax on EV batteries from the current 8 per cent to just 1 per cent while offering 24 billion baht (US$730 million) in subsidies to the EV battery producing industry.
In 2022, nearly 42,000 EVs were sold in Thailand, according to online portal Statista.
For us, even though the Low-Carbon Mobility Blueprint 2021-2030 has been announced, the current status and implementation of this policy is rather unclear.
Moving forward, Malaysia needs to provide a clear and up to date EV policy and direction that supports the growth of the EV ecosystem, especially in battery-charging infrastructure, regulations and standards.
They should include lucrative incentives to invest in making the country an EV production hub for this region.
DR AHMAD SHAHIR ABDUL AZIZ
Senior Manager
InvestPerak, Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times