Mahathir Mohamad’s ambition of building a Malaysian car brand may be complicated by US-China trade war
Malaysia had taken into account the possible knock-on effects that global trade tensions may have on the supply chain and could therefore rely on Southeast Asian neighbours to supply parts
Malaysia’s third push to build a national car brand may lead it to source parts from its Southeast Asian neighbours, as the region forges stronger ties to weather out the US-China trade tensions.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s ambition of developing a home-grown automotive brand has courted interest from neighbouring countries, Minister of International Trade and Industry Darell Leiking said during an interview with Bloomberg Television in Kuala Lumpur.
“What Mahathir meant was that he needed something where Malaysians can get together, Asean can get together, to supply components of this vehicle and make it into a national car in Asean, not only in Malaysia,” Leiking said. “It’s ambitious but I think that it’s necessary now, more so when you want to create an economic bloc like Asean.”
As a trade war between the US and China deepens, the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, has benefited from its fallout as companies shift orders and move production bases to the region. It was the top destination among the one-third of more than 430 American companies in China that considered moving operations elsewhere, according to a survey by AmCham China and AmCham Shanghai.
Asean can get together, to supply components of this vehicle and make it into a national car in Asean
Malaysia stands to gain as a trans-shipment point, capitalising on its location by the Strait of Malacca – a historic channel connecting Asia’s biggest economies from Japan and China to India and beyond. Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the trade war will be positive for the country over the next year or so, especially in electronics and steel as the world’s two biggest economies seek alternatives for supplies.