KUALA KANGSAR: Any changes in Tesla Inc. factory plans in Thailand and expansion strategy in Southeast Asia will not impact Perak's efforts to attract foreign investments, according to Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.
Saarani clarified that Perak was never part of Tesla's proposed factory plans.
Instead, the state is focused on existing projects, such as Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd's (Geely) investment in the Automotive High-Tech Valley (AHTV) in Proton City, Tanjung Malim. These investments will proceed as planned.
"I understand that Tesla's investment plans were supposed to be in Kedah. We in Perak are not involved in the plans for a Tesla factory.
"We only have investments from Geely in AHTV Tanjung Malim, so as far as Tesla is concerned, I think we (Perak) are not affected," he told reporters after attending
Mesra Programme here, yesterday.
It was reported that Tesla had cancelled its plans to develop factories in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia following a reassessment of its business expansion plans in Southeast Asia.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was also reported to have said that the decision was due to Elon Musk's company suffering significant losses and being unable to compete with EV industries from China.
In related developments, Saarani said a meeting will be held in September between the state government and Geely to approve the master plan from Geely, which will involve an investment of RM40 billion in AHTV to finalize it.
He added that other major investments, such as the Maritime Industrial City Lumut (LuMIC) project in Lumut, the production and processing of quartz and silica-based minerals at the Silver Valley Technology Park (SVTP) in Kanthan, and the downstream rare earth element (REE) production plant by a South Korean company are proceeding smoothly.
"Geely has submitted the master plan for their development in AHTV, and in September we will have a meeting to approve the layout.
"Other investments, such as RM72 billion for LuMIC, a silicon company from China at SVTP, and from Korea for the production of super magnets (REE downstream products), are also progressing well," he said.