KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 — A total of 2,214 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations were installed as of March 20, 2024, as the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) maintains its commitment to developing the infrastructure and achieving the targeted 10,000 charging points by 2025.
As outlined in 2021 under the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (LCMB) 2021-2030, Malaysia aims to have 10,000 EV charging stations by 2025, comprising 9,000 units of alternating current (AC) chargers and 1,000 units of direct current (DC) fast chargers.
“Out of the 2,214 EV charging stations installed, 1,741 are alternating current chargers and 473 direct current fast chargers,” minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said at a press conference after announcing the ministry’s first-quarter 2024 report card, here, today.
On the Electric Motorcycle Use Promotion Scheme (MARiiCas) programme, Zafrul said 1,995 applications were approved with rebates valued at RM4.8 million as at March 31, 2024.
On a separate matter, Zafrul said the Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF), an agency under Miti, has disbursed RM58.91 million to 17 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the first quarter (1Q) of 2024 for automation and modernisation.
The total allocation for the soft loan is RM150 million for 30 companies in the manufacturing and manufacturing-related services sector.
Additionally, there are matching grants available for Bumiputera aerospace SMEs.
“The target is 30 companies with a total allocation of RM150 million. As of 1Q this year, RM8 million has been disbursed to five SMEs,” he said.
As for the Industry4WRD Intervention Fund (IIF), he noted that applications from 401 Malaysian SMEs were approved, with a total grant value of RM149.1 million, as of March 31, 2024.
The IIF serves as a financial support facility for Malaysian SMEs in the manufacturing and related services sectors to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies.
The top three approvals were for food manufacturing (78 SMEs), plastic products (51), and machinery and equipment (40).
In terms of states, the top three were Selangor, Johor and Penang with 165, 70, and 53 SMEs respectively.
Zafrul also highlighted that Miti assists SMEs on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) journey through a self-assessment mechanism.
To date, 702 out of the targeted 1,000 companies for 2024 have received assistance.
— Bernama
