Geely to continue development of Malaysian auto city with US$10bn investment

Tanjung Malim, Perak is set to become the region’s largest auto city as Chinese automobile manufacturer Geely has pledged that it will invest US$10 billion in the city for its development as reported by Bernama.

At the Selangor state-level Sentuhan Agro MADANI programme, Malaysian Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim said in his speech that Geely has been jointly producing cars with Malaysian automotive company Proton and that Geely is committed to continue to develop Tanjung Malim.

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The investment is expected to create thousands of job opportunities for Malaysians according to a ten-page letter from Geely addressed to PM Anwar.

PM Anwar also assured Malaysians that the investment is not a mere gift but that it will be utilised for the ensured growth of the Malaysian economy and job security for young people.

In his speech, he unveiled that partly due to political stability, Malaysia has successfully garnered RM71 billion worth of approved investments from January to March this year which excludes those from Aramco, Geely and Tesla.

Malaysia’s economic performance has been commendable with a 5.6 per cent first quarter growth that is favourably comparable against other competitive economies such as that of Singapore, China and Indonesia, PM Anwar further stated.

As Malaysia ramps up its efforts to gain capital for its automotive industry, the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), Zafrul Aziz has said that the potential collaboration between Malaysia and Tesla will not be limited to the electric vehicle (EV) sector, according to Bernama. Zafrul was speaking at the soft launch of the International Electric Mobility Showcase (IEMS) this week.

Through the collaboration with Tesla, Malaysia hopes to increase its potential and attract more investment commitments in the automotive sector and other sectors in the nation.

Zafrul also confirmed that there would be a call between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, before the end of the week.

Tesla will be expected to take part in the upcoming IEMS 2023 scheduled from 4 to 6 October according to Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, group chief executive officer of Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC).

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