The relationship between national automotive policy and innovation : an investigation to Malaysian automotive parts companies in the automotive global value chain business

Abstract

Study of the Malaysian automotive policy has always been an interest for both local and international researchers. Malaysia which is a relatively small and young country, to have its own automobile manufacturing company should be a pride to every Malaysian. However the effectiveness of the national policy has always been discussed by the academic scholars, business entities and even often being debated by the politicians. This study will look on the policy analysis of the Malaysian National Automotive Policy whether it has successful to achieve its objectives. The main objective of the National Automotive Policy which was implemented in 2006 is to promote a competitive and sustainable domestic automotive industry especially the Malaysian national automaker company, particularly Proton. The study intended to evaluate the effectiveness of National Automotive Policy to the supporting automotive industries in Malaysia, namely the automotive parts companies or the automotive vendors. The relationship between the national programme and the industrial development to the economic growth in the Malaysian automotive industry will be looked into. The research will look into three main phases of National Automotive Policy in Malaysia which are the implementation National Automotive Policy in 2006 and revision of the National Automotive Policy in 2009 and extension of National Automotive Policy in 2014. Study also aimed to fill the research gap of the previous research on automotive industry in Malaysia basically between the automotive OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and the automotive components makers in Malaysia automotive industry.