Zafrul : National Semiconductor Strategic Task Force Vital For EV Growth

Just like the formation of the National EV Task Force (NEVTF) back in Feb last year, the Malaysian government decided to establish a National Semiconductor Strategic Task Force (NSSTF). It will act as a platform to grow the semiconductor ecosystem and draw in strategic investments.

This was announced by the Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz. The minister will lso chair the task force, which consist of various ministries, academics and domestic and global industry players, reports Free Malaysia Today (FMT).

According to Tengku Zafrul, the formation of the NSSTF would further strengthen the sector, which currently contributes 13% to the global activities of chip assembly, testing and packaging, and 10% to the global semiconductor market.

The semiconductor industry is an important space in Malaysia as it is vital for the nation’s electrical and electronics (E&E) sector, as well as other technology-based industries such as electric vehicles (EVs).

MITI under the leadership of Zafrul has noted the high importance of the growth of both E&E and EV space. For the EV space, due to the lack of pace from the NEVTF, Zafrul has even formed an off-shoot board, National EV Steering Committee (NEVSC). The latter hopes to expedite processes especially when it comes to EV chargers approval which is under the purview of the Energy Commision (ST).

However, based on feedback from charge point operators (CPO) and automotive brand custodians, CariCarz.com has highlighted numerous times that just like the Task Force, the Steering Committee is also lacking the required pace to push the 10,000 EV Chargers by 2025 narrative by the government forward. In many instances we are noticing EV charging stations lying idle for months before being turned on due to the licensing issue.

Furthermore we would also argue that the MEVNet dashboard by PLANMalaysia is also not painting the right picture with regards to the EV space. Don’t get us wrong, we applaud this effort. However, we do question its workings and implementations as it does not align with Zafrul’s vision at times.

Zafrul also told FMT that Malaysia remains an appealing destination for EV investors like Tesla. The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved 59 projects worth RM26.2 billion in the EV sector and its related ecosystems between 2018 and 2023, including vehicle assembly, manufacturing parts, and charging components.