The government says it will announce the National Automotive Policy (NAP) review by the end of the year, and the revised policy will ensure that the automotive industry remains competitive whilst benefitting the rakyat, Bernama reports. It will also set out to dismantle monopolies, according to deputy international trade and industry minister Dr Ong Kian Ming.
“We are reviewing the NAP and we will announce a new, more competitive policy that offers more reasonable prices for vehicles. We are also looking again at the RM10,000 fees that vehicle traders have to pay for every open Approved Permit (AP) import licence,” he told the Dewan Negara.
Ong was replying to a supplementary question from senator Datuk Chai Kim Sen on the AP fees imposed on vehicle traders, and said that the new policy will place an importance on the revamp of all monopolies in the industry.
Replying to the original question from Chai, who wanted to know whether the government planned to abolish the AP in fulfilling a Pakatan Harapan promise to reduce vehicle prices, Ong said the government had no plan to abolish the AP as it was not a factor in determining vehicle prices in the market.
He did however say that aspects of the subject would be looked into, including the exploitation of APs. “We will also adopt several stringent measures to ensure that the AP is not misused,” he said.
