MITI sec-gen rebuffs Mahathir's AP claims

MITI sec-gen rebuffs Mahathir's AP claims
Beh Lih Yi, Malaysiakini
Jul 27, 05

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) today rebuffed the claim made by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the Approved Permit (AP) list to import luxury cars released by the government last week was incomplete.

The ministry's secretary-general Mohd Sidek Hassan, who also heads the AP issuance committee, said the 2005 AP holders list released by the Prime Minister's office last Monday was "the same" as the 2004 AP holders list.

"However, there are two names of franchise AP holders which did not appear in the 2005 list," he said when contacted this afternoon.

They are Naganuri Automobile Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd which was given 381 APs to import Suzuki cars and Milan Auto (M) Sdn Bhd which was given 30 APs to import the Alfa Romeo.

However in 2004, their agency agreements with the foreign car manufacturers had been terminated when they could not fulfill certain criteria stipulated in the agreement.

Given on performance

The two criteria for AP consideration are that the applicant's company must be 70 percent owned by bumiputera and the company must have exclusive agency agreement direct with foreign car manufacturers.

"In view of this, the ministry had revoked the APs given to Naganuri and Milan Auto since they were unable to adhere to the conditions for the issuance of AP," he explained.

However he admitted there were differences in the number of APs possessed by the AP holders in the 2004 and 2005 lists due to the criteria set on the performance of the AP holders but he was uncertain of the difference.

He explained that a AP holder who could perform above 80 percent (by importing the cars) will be given an additional 20 percent of APs the following year while those who performed below 60 percent will be given the AP next year accordingly to its actual import.

"For instance, if a AP holder is allocated 100 APs this year and he managed to import 80 cars, then he will be given 120 APs next year as a result of the additional 20 percent," Mohd Sidek said.

"Whereas if the person only managed to import 40 cars although he is given 100 APs, then the APs next year will be reduced to 40 based on the actual imports," he added.

Asked whether he is prepared to release the 2004 AP holders list, Mohd Sidek said he "has not thought about the matter" while he declined to comment whether the ministry will make public the full lists of AP holders for previous years.

He added that he was puzzled why the former premier has said the list was incomplete.

Yesterday, Mahathir publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the AP holder list released by the Prime Minister’s office, saying it was "incomplete" and called for the 2004 AP list and that of previous years to be made public too.

He also lambasted International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz for making a number of claims on the AP issue at the Umno general assembly last week which were "not correct".

The former premier also questioned why former officers of the ministry who were not automotive businessman and who had no facilities to assemble or sell the imported cars received thousands of APs.

'No, no, no, no'

Mohd Sidek defended the issuance of APs to former ministry officials, saying the approval was granted irregardless of the applicant’s background, as long as they fulfilled the criteria.

On questions over their abilities, he said AP holders do not need to have facilities to assemble since the imported cars are "completely build-up".

The secretary-general stressed that reviews on the applicants’ eligibility are carried out from time to time and will revoke the APs immediately when their eligibility is in question such as Naganuri and Milan Auto.

Meanwhile, Rafidah, who is in South Africa on a working visit declined to say anything on the issues raised by Mahathir apart from saying "no, no, no, no" to reporters who pestered her for comment.

According to the Star online, when asked if there was a misunderstanding, Rafidah reiterated: "God is my witness".

Pressed for further comment, she told reporters to redirect their questions to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.