Azmin Ali: Porsche sees Malaysia as ideal gateway into ASEAN

Senior Minister cum International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has welcomed news that Porsche AG has decided to commence local assembly in Malaysia. He added that this project "acknowledges the capability of our local talent of highly skilled engineers and technicians."

This comes as Porsche and Sime Darby have confirmed that a small-scale local assembly (CKD) operation will be set up in Malaysia.

Azmin quipped, "Despite a challenging global economic landscape, Porsche strongly believes that Malaysia is an ideal gateway for the ASEAN market, making the Kedah production plant its first local assembly outside of Europe in more than 70 years of company history.

The project is embedded in a comprehensive growth initiative, launched in 2018 and reflects Porsche’s trust in our country’s strong position as the preferred manufacturing hub for globally renowned automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)."

Azmin went on, "Porsche’s decision in choosing Malaysia as its first production plant outside of Europe is an embodiment of the company’s confidence in Malaysia’s conducive ecosystem and our strength to support their long-term growth."

It also acknowledges the capability of our local talent of highly skilled engineers and technicians. We are very pleased to welcome Porsche to Malaysia and MITI as well as its agency, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), will continue to deliver our best in facilitating their endeavours here."

Azmin also believes that given Porsche’s reputation as a high-performance car manufacturer that demands state of the art technology and precision engineering, this partnership will certainly
lead to the creation of high-quality jobs and niche technology capabilities which is in line with Malaysia's National Investment Aspirations (NIA).

Moving forward, Azmin assures that Malaysian Government will ensure a conducive environment for foreign industry leaders to do business in Malaysia through fiscal and non-fiscal incentives coupled with Malaysia’s readiness in providing high-skilled talents as well as capable technology partners.

Sime Darby Motors, the official distributor of Porsche models in Malaysia, will be handling the CKD operations in its Inokom plant in Kulim, Kedah. The operations will commence from 2022 onwards.

Well, although Azmin says that this project serves as a gateway to ASEAN, Porsche says the CKD models will only be assembled for the local Malaysian market, with no plans for export, for now at least.