According to a recent report, Malaysia is expected to unveil its first flying car prototype to the public this year. The Minister of Entrepreneur Development stated that the prototype – fully driven by local technology – is already available.
He stated that 2019 is a realistic target because it was noted that Malaysia has the technology already. It is all about the speed of implementation. It was noted that the said the car would be safe and capable of flying at low altitudes at a reasonable speed.
Upon the launch of the Growth Malaysia initiative, the Minister noted that the prototype would cost slightly over RM1 million to build. Through the flying car project, the Government wanted to create an environment that stimulates people to think about new technologies.
It was noted that the Government is providing the catalyst and ecosystem to stimulate the people to think beyond what we are capable of doing today.
The project will also utilise the country’s capabilities in the aerospace, drone, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and automotive sectors.
The Minister argued that Malaysia has the skill set to excel in all these fields; it needs to make full use of these skills because the “bottom line is we want to be a producing nation”. It is important to note that the project was separate from the third national car project envisioned by the Prime Minister.
The Growth Malaysia initiative was led by an online to offline platform operator to help offline retailers in Malaysia to go digital, in terms of payments, marketing, data and financial services.
This is in line with the ministry’s mission to widen and coordinate entrepreneurial activities, to be more targeted. The platform’s founder said that the Growth Malaysia initiative aims to help 100,000 restaurants across Malaysia to grow digitally by 2020.
He noted that as the world goes digital, offline businesses especially those in the food and beverages, and retail sectors need to catch up and adapt to the growing shift in the behaviour of consumers, or risk being left behind.
The founder said the initiative is also in collaboration with various other local and governmental groups and funding societies for Retail and Food and Beverages.
Another report reiterated the information, saying that Malaysia’s flying car, which will be showcased to the public by in 2019 and will be developed by local companies. The report noted that foreign parties will only be involved as consultants over the car’s safety features and procedures.
Malaysia will use local capabilities to build the flying car and will only refer to foreign parties when it comes to exchanging information over the car’s safety.
Members of the press and public, in attendance at the recent Growth Malaysia event were told that the prototype is ready. “It is up to the private sector whether they want to use it”.
It was reported that the development of the flying car is the new government’s initiative to promote the use of high technologies among the private sector to boost productivity.
It was noted that the flying car can be used in sectors such as agriculture and aerospace, among others.
Growth Malaysia offers restaurant owners the added value such as cashless and mobile payments, digitising loyalty cards, food delivery and enabling easier access to financing.