BAGAN DATUK, March 31 — Bagan Datuk is set to become a new automotive hub following interest shown by two automotive companies to set up their plants in the district.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said a Chinese company was keen to open an Energy Efficient Vehicles (EEV) assembly plant for the export market and would require 40 hectares of land for the purpose.

He said the auto company would work with a local company to set up the factory near the Sungai Bernam estuary in Hutan Melintang here.

"When completed, 2,000 jobs will be created and I have asked for Bagan Datuk youths to be given priority for the job opportunities," he said when opening the Malaysian Automotive Industry (MAI) Auto Festival at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Hutan Melintang’s field here today.

MAI is an agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

Also present was Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir.

Malaysia-based Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd was the first automotive company that has agreed to invest in this southwestern district of Perak. It is in the final stages of building an assembly plant which is expected to create about 4,000 jobs.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also Bagan Datuk Member of Parliament, said he was convinced that the Perak government would proactively attract more investors to Bagan Datuk and support a move to expand the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority’s jurisdiction to the district.

The Deputy Prime Minister said he did not want Bagan Datuk to be left behind in the automotive development as it was a very important industry, contributing about 3.6 per cent or RM40 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the government had targeted for the contribution to increase to 10 per cent by 2020.

He said the opening of the automotive factories would be in tandem with the setting up of the Automotive Engineering and Marine Engineering Faculties at Bagan Datuk Polytechnic here, in churning out skilled manpower.

Ahmad Zahid said EEVs made up more than 50 per cent of vehicles on the road in the country and this meant that their potential was very bright and the country’s automotive sector would continue to grow.

"Today, the automotive sector comprise 27 vehicle brand manufacturers, covering national and international brands. We have 641 local vendors, as well as 53,000 distributors, agents and service centres, employing over 700,000 people,” he said.

The MAI Auto Festival here, which is a five-stage showcase prior to the Malaysia Autoshow 2018 at the Malaysia Agricultural Expo Park (MAEPS), Serdang starting April 26, is one of the government’s efforts to raise awareness among Malaysians on EEVs. — Bernama