Earlier today, at Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, NexV Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (“NMSB”), a JV company between Careplus Group Berhad and the GoAuto Group Sdn Bhd, had its ground breaking ceremony that marks the beginning of the company starting work on what is the first green technology facility totally dedicated to manufacture and assembly of New Energy Vehicles (NEV), which will include electric vehicles (EVs). NMSB plans to begin operating by the first quarter of 2025. With that, it hopes to addmore employment opportunities and investments to the surrounding area.
The facility is to be located in the Chembong Industrial Area, Rembau, Negeri Sembilan and the ground breaking ceremony was officiated by Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar, YAB Dato’ Seri Haji Aminuddin bin Harun, today.
The plant will have a planned capacity of 30,000 vehicles per year, in which the initial plan is the assembly of NETA models (of which the first model, the NETA V was recently launched) through the JV between Careplus and Intro Synergy Sdn Bhd (a GoAuto subsidiary). According to the parties involved, the new facility will not only assemble NETA vehicles, which will take up to one-third the production capacity but will be open to other NEV brands intending to carry out Completely Knocked Down (CKD) assembly of passenger and commercial EVs or electric motorcycles.
The first phase of this development involves the building of an assembly plant. This is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2024. Phase two and three will begin in 2026 and 2028 respectively, expanding to an even bigger production capacity of up to a projected 50,000 units per year. The total investment for the plant development is pegged at around 600 million Ringgit.
What is important in all of these sort of development is that it provides job creation for the ever growing Malaysian population. The first phase will also create more than 600 skilled and semi-skilled jobs with specialisation in EV manufacturing, especially in the use of smart manufacturing technologies. The techologies include automation, system integration, robotics, cloud-based plant management, industrial IoT and other technologies synonymous in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As operations are scheduled to start in early 2025, recruitment and training of the plant's workforce will commence as early as August 2024. Of course, what isn't taken into account as yet is the spillover, or additional support network in terms of creating other sorts of jobs like transport, or even supporting services for factories like restaurants and other services.
Parallel with the production of green vehicles, it is also stated that the plant will also utilise eco-friendly solutions, such as technologies that produce zero wastewater discharge, zero noise pollution, while solid waste will be processed through recycling centers within the facility. A significant portion of factory’s energy will also be powered by solar panels to be installed on the roof of the plant.
Apart from Intro Synergy Sdn Bhd (the sole distributor for NETA brand), the HIGER and YUTONG brands (distributed by GVT Sdn. Bhd., a joint venture between W&R Resources Sdn Bhd and Careplus Group Berhad) will work with NMSB to assemble for all models locally produced under these brands as and when they start selling their models here.
At the same event, Intro Synergy and Hozon New Energy Automobile Co. Ltd. (The principal company that produces NETA) exchanged a CKD agreement, as collaborations for CKD operations in Malaysia. NMSB also exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Qingdao Huayue Guotai New Energy Car Co. Ltd. To explore new opportunities for New Energy Vehicles in Malaysia and ASEAN.
”We would like to thank all stakeholders including federal and local authorities, local residents and all of our business partners. We hope that with the assembly of NETA V model, more Malaysians will be able to accept and support the products produced by Chembong", said Careplus CEO, Lim Kwee Shyan.
In terms of licensing, NMSB had obtained its interim Manufacturing License from the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), through the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (MIDA) in October 2023. NMSB had also recently received the Development Order (Kebenaran Merancang) to commence construction of the manufacturing plant from Rembau District Council.
Datuk Wira Arham Abdul Rahman, the CEO of MIDA, commended the successful milestone of NMSB, saying “Congratulations to Careplus Group and GoAuto Group for their collaborative efforts in driving the future vision of sustainable mobility. It is also meant to augment national EV targets defined by the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (LCMB) and National Energy Policy (DTN). It also complements the aspirations described in the National Automotive Policy(NAP) 2020 and the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030. MIDA applauds NMSB for its commitment to innovation, green energy and industry leadership, advancing Malaysia’s status as a major player in the EV industry while placing the nation at center stage as a pivotal global impetus., We stand ready to offer our full support and facilitation to the local businesses, ensuring a seamless journey for businesses aiming to thrive in our dynamic and competitive market.
Quite an interesting bit of news in terms of local investments and job creation. On a personal note, more efforts like this is required and on our point, sustainability in terms of jobs for the people is the most important bit of 'sustainability' first and foremost. So, being 'green' is as important as adding more jobs for more mouths to feed. This is especially so for the people in and around Rembau.
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