Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI), Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, clarified that Tesla has not committed to establishing an electric vehicle (EV) factory in Malaysia.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Tengku Zafrul explained that while the MITI had engaged in discussions with Tesla founder Elon Musk to attract investment, these talks did not include plans for a factory.
Tengku Zafrul emphasised that a Thai news report quoting unnamed sources is not an official statement from Tesla. He urged reporters to verify the authenticity of such news directly with Tesla.
These comments were made in response to a report regarding Tesla’s alleged cancellation of plans to develop factories in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
According to Malaysian Investment Development Authority’s (MIDA) press release, Tesla investments in the country only involves the selling of its EVs, establishing charging stations, opening a head office, service centre, and experience centre in Malaysia.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Tesla told him that the company is losing money due to fierce competition in the EV market from China, and this is the reason why they are not opening a factory in the Southeast Asia region.
