KESM Industries jumped 26 sen to RM8.40 in early trade on Thursday, March 2, 2023. A day earlier, Malaysia’s trade ministry had said yes to Tesla.
The ministry, known as Miti, announced on Wednesday, March 1, that it had approved the carmaker’s application to import battery electric vehicles. Tesla will also open a head office in Malaysia, set up experience centres and service centres, and build a Supercharger network.
How the shares moved
Bernama’s market report for Malay Mail listed the early gains. Pentamaster Corporation added 4.0 sen to RM4.94. Genetec Technology gained 2.0 sen to RM2.83. Hong Seng Consolidated rose half a sen to 13.5 sen. Greatech Technology went nowhere, flat at RM5.10.
It was a modest rally for most of the names, and a sharper one for KESM.
What the minister said
Miti said it had eased Tesla’s entry through a new scheme called the BEV Global Leaders initiative, which is meant to lift demand for electric vehicles at home and draw investment from leading global EV makers. Tesla is its first applicant.
“We are pleased by Tesla’s decision to establish its presence in the electric vehicle ecosystem in Malaysia,” Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said. “This demonstrates Tesla’s confidence in our economic fundamentals and conducive business environment.” He added that Malaysia would use its established electrical and electronics ecosystem to become the preferred destination for electric mobility investment. The ministry expects Tesla’s presence to create better paying jobs for workers in the segment and to bring more local companies into its supply chain.
A crowded regional race
Bloomberg, in a report carried by The Straits Times, put the approval in a wider context. Malaysia wants electric vehicles, hybrids included, to make up 15 per cent of total industry volume by 2030, and it exempts fully built-up EVs from import duty. Fitch Solutions had forecast that EV sales in Malaysia would grow 82 per cent in 2023 to about 5,840 units, from a low base.
Others had already arrived. China’s BYD said in December it would bring its Atto 3 to the country, and Mercedes-Benz introduced its first locally made EV there in February.
Next door, the competition was heating up. BYD and Hyundai Motor were finalising investment deals in Indonesia, the region’s largest economy. Annual passenger EV sales in the six largest South-east Asian economies passed 51,000 units in 2022, up from 16,000 in 2021, according to BloombergNEF figures cited in the report.
Sources
- EV-related stocks advance after Tesla gets approval to import electric vehicles into Malaysia
- Miti approves Tesla's application to import battery electric vehicles into Malaysia
- Tesla to import electric cars into Malaysia, set up charging network
