Mahathir says Khazanah not govt, free to be involved in third national car project

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pix) has brushed off concerns of SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd's potential involvement in the upcoming third national car project.
This was in response to MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong's statement, saying that Khazanah Nasional Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary SilTerra as one of the possible partners for the project would cast doubts on the government's promise that public funds would not be used for the project.
"Khazanah is not the government, it is a company and they are quite free to do business. If there is a company in Khazanah that is interested (to participate in the project), they can invest," Mahathir told a press conference after chairing Pakatan Harapan's Presidential Council meeting here, today.
SilTerra is a project of strategic national interest to promote front-end semiconductor manufacturing and a catalyst for high technology investments in Malaysia.
Since its inception in 1995, SilTerra has served many top-tier global fabless design and product companies covering the consumer electronics, communications and computing, and mobile device market segments.
On the idea of East Asia Aerospace Industry and whether Malaysia will participate in it, Mahathir said Malaysia welcomed investments.
"We don't have knowledge or skill in making planes (but) we are already building parts of all the planes that are flying. The parts come from CTRM and other industries in Malaysia. So, we will encourage more investments in the aerospace business." — Bernama