Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Tesla has informed the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) of the reasons why the company is not investing in Malaysia.

He said Tesla could not compete with electric vehicle brands from China.

But doubts arose when Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz mentioned that he had yet to meet with representatives from the company.

Whether Tesla will invest in Southeast Asia or not is not important.

The question now is whether the government is telling the truth about Tesla’s investment plans.

Last year, Anwar was ecstatic in announcing Tesla’s investment in Malaysia.

Now, Anwar is telling a different story to the Malaysian public, citing what Tesla told MITI.

But the MITI minister tells the public that he will meet with Tesla representatives in the US to get an accurate picture.

Why are Anwar and Zafrul giving the public the run around on the possibility of Tesla investment in the region and in Malaysia?

Why are they both relying on information from “some Tesla officials” to say that Tesla will not invest in Malaysia?

Why was it suddenly announced that Zafrul will be meeting with Tesla representatives from the US?

If he did not meet with them before, how was the information passed on to his boss Anwar that Tesla will not come to invest?

After Anwar took office as prime minister, he announced billions of dollars of foreign investment.

Can Anwar provide a list of the foreign investments, their value and whether they are actual or potential investments?

P Ramasamy is chairman of political party Urimai and former deputy chief minister of Penang.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.

https://www.malaysianow.com/opinion/2024/08/12/more-troubling-questions-about-tesla-and-anwar