IF anybody is sour grapes, it must be certainly Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

In July last year, he boasted that electric vehicle (EV) behemoth Tesla was channelling investments into Southeast Asia (SEA) - Malaysia included - amounting to billions.

Now it appears that tech mogul Elon Musk who is also the billionaire founder of the EV company is not keen to come to SEA.

As was informed to the Minister of Trade, Investment and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Tesla incurred huge loses in China.

It was unable to compete with China’s EV industry, hence this is the core reason why Tesla is shying away from SEA in general and Malaysia in particular.

Even though there were no concrete plans to build Tesla factories in SEA, Anwar should not have jumped the gun to prematurely trumpet Tesla’s investments in Malaysia.

He should have waited for Tesla to make the final commitment. But as a person in hurry, Anwar just couldn’t wait for the final decision. He should not have announced prematurely about the Tesla’s intention.

Tesla not at fault

The mistake cannot be attributed to Tesla; it was clearly the fault of Anwar.

Instead of apologising to Malaysians for his rash announcement, he seems to hide behind the fact that Tesla was making financial losses in China as the reason why it was pulling out of SEA and Malaysia.

Apparently, the information of Tesla making losses in China due to high tariffs was conveyed by the company’s officials to Tengku Zafrul. This information was later conveyed to Anwar. Whether this is true or not, nobody knows.

If Anwar was such a hot shot internationally - or a leader with the potential to create a new world order as suggested by the Amanah president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu - Musk would have called to inform him personally the decision of not investing in SEA.

Maybe Tengku Zafrul should disclose to the public who in Tesla informed him of the EV carmaker pulling out its investments in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

The whole thing of Tesla investing in SEA including Malaysia is shrouded in mystery. Where did Anwar get the information of Tesla’s interest from the first place? Was the information conveyed to him by those in Tesla or the big boss Musk himself?

If Tesla had the intention to invest in the first place, this should not be translated as the company “was about to invest in the region”.

In his haste to boast about Tesla investments, Anwar forgot to exercise caution. The matter is very straightforward; no leader is infallible.

Just say sorry

Mistakes happen, all is needed is for Anwar to apologise to Malaysians and move on. An honest and responsible leader would have done this.

But unfortunately, Anwar decided to cover his mistake by saying that Tesla was abandoning its investment plans in the region because of its huge financial loses in China.

Maybe Tesla was making financial loses in China but what has this got to do with not investing in SEA? There are no EV car manufacturers in SEA countries.

I don’t think that Tesla would have problem manufacturing and marketing cars in the region. SEA is not China.

Boasts of foreign investments coming into the country by Anwar is not confined to Tesla. I am not sure if his boasts of foreign investments from other big companies have materialised.

Can Anwar who talks of billions flowing into the country list down those investments to date as well as to segregate between the expected/potential/projected investments vs the confirmed/approved amount?

Anwar seems to be a drowning man who would snatch even a “straw to stay alive”. It is on record that the ringgit has been sliding in value against the greenback for some time.

However, when the value of the US dollar dropped recently, Anwar who is also the Finance Minister was ecstatic to announce the appreciation of the ringgit against the American currency.

Malaysians are not in the know whether Tesla had serious intentions about investing in the region or the country.

All we know is about the earlier announcement by Anwar. Since Tesla is not coming with its investment, Anwar has changed his script by saying that this is due to Tesla having made losses in China.

Anwar thinks that Malaysians are fools given Tesla could have their own reasons - beyond their China woes - for not investing in Malaysia. After all, there could be political reasons apart from sheer business/economic/financial decisions. - Aug 10, 2024

Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.

https://focusmalaysia.my/pmx-could-have-jumped-the-gun-trumpeting-teslas-big-time-investment-in-malaysia-for-political-mileage/