PETALING JAYA: The government is considering increasing the budget for the Electric Motorcycle Use Promotion Scheme (MARiiCas), which offers a rebate to qualified buyers for the purchase of electric motorcycles, according to Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
“Applications for MARiiCas have reached full capacity, but have not yet been fully utilised in terms of approval. If we look at the applications, indeed, if all are approved, it would be full. I have informed the Ministry of Finance that we need to allocate additional funds for MARiiCas,” he told reporters yesterday at CelcomDigi Bhd and Yinson GreenTech partnership offering for Malaysians to own an electric vehicle (EV) through subscribing via CelcomDigi postpaid account.
Tengku Zafrul said he requested the Finance Ministry to review and consider it. “It seems that the Ministry of Finance has no objections, but we need to finalise and determine how much is needed.”
On another issue, he said Malaysia’s target of 10,000 EV charging stations by 2025 “may be quite aggressive” and there are a lot of issues the government needs to address, especially in terms of approval.
“I, along with my Cabinet colleagues, will once again discuss with the EV Steering Committee about this target. Because many agencies are involved, such as the Energy Commission, and also related local authorities, and many others. We need to streamline the process. There are many complaints from companies that want to set up charging stations. Because the approval takes so much time. So my Cabinet colleagues and I will refine these challenges,” he said.
Commenting on the partnership between CelcomDigi’s Innovation Centre and Yinson GreenTech where customers can lease-to-own a rydeEV e-bike simply by signing up for any of CelcomDigi’s Postpaid 5G plans with the Easy360 instalment plan, Tengku Zafrul said the ministry welcomes cross-industry collaboration, and this is well reflected in policies such as the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, and the National Automotive Policy 2020.
“Malaysia’s EV industry, for example, is growing on the back of a strong semiconductor industry and is expected to catalyse the growth of Malaysia’s manufacturing-based exports. Today, it is encouraging to again see a cross-industry and unique, first-of-its-kind collaboration between CelcomDigi and Yinson GreenTech to drive affordable access to EVs, particularly for Malaysians to benefit from Budget 2024’s Electric Motorcycle Usage Scheme, and contribute to Malaysia’s net zero target by 2050,” he added.
He said major shifts in the transport landscape all point to EVs being the future, and they now have the opportunity to accelerate EV adoption in Malaysia.
CelcomDigi CEO Datuk Idham Nawawi said, “Change can come fast if we think differently about cross-industry collaborations, which is why I am excited with our partnership with Yinson Greentech. Together, we can make EV more accessible to a large number of Malaysians at scale, quickly, in the most convenient and familiar way – now as easy as subscribing to a postpaid plan. We are contributing towards the future of transportation as well as driving environmental sustainability for Malaysia.”
Yinson Group CEO Lim Chern Yuan said Yinson GreenTech offers a range of integrated green tech solutions in the transport electrification space and is looking forward to innovating partnerships with likeminded businesses across all industries to reduce their carbon footprint.
