Computer Forms partners Thai firm for electric bus, battery venture
26 Sep 2022
Computer Forms (Malaysia) Bhd (CFMB) has signed a heads of agreement with Thailand’s Energy Absolute PCL to form a joint-venture company (JVC) to develop electric bus and battery businesses worth RM5 billion in Malaysia.
The company will invest RM5 billion in stages into the greener mobility solution ventures, which include developing energy storage and charging platforms, and producing lithium-ion batteries to support the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem on Malaysian shores.
CFMB managing director Datuk Wira Justin Lim said the JVC will maximise opportunities in production and distribution of EVs in which Energy Absolute has strong resources and capabilities in Thailand.
“First, the JV company will work towards bringing in EV-buses, EV-cars, EV-bikes EV-trains and EV-boats to transform Malaysia’s public transport infrastructure in the medium term.
“We are expecting the partnership to yield competitive returns as greening Malaysia’s public transport system is in tandem with the national plan to reduce Malaysia’s carbon footprint,” he said at the signing ceremony today.
Lim said the company will subsequently build a factory to produce lithium-ion batteries as well as invest in energy storage systems and charging stations to support the EV ecosystem in Malaysia.
Next, Lim said the new company will also invest in solar and wind renewable power plants.
Separately, Hong Kong-listed bus and coach supplier Gemilang International Limited signed an agreement with CFMB to express its intent to purchase 200 units of EV-buses worth RM200 million from the JVC.
“After the JV company has been formed, we will go to a sale and purchase contract with Gemilang. We will make an arrangement for the buses to be produced in Thailand and to be brought in to Malaysia.
“We should have our JV company to be set up in October. In the first half of 2023, we expect to roll out the first batch of bus coming in from Thailand,” said Lim.
At the moment, he added, the stake in the JV is 50:50 but a potential investor might take a small portion in the company, but it has yet to be confirmed.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Deputy National Unity Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal who said the partnership is a positive initiative by the private sector to capture new business opportunities announced at the 5th International Sustainable Energy Summit in August 2022.
Energy Absolute is a Thailand-based company with capital market of 338.50 billion baht (RM41.25 billion) and it is in the business of green technology.
Fortune Business Insights expects the EV market to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.3% to reach a global market size worth US$1,318 billion by 2028. Meanwhile, research analysts have predicted the global solar energy system’s market revenue to grow by 20.1% CAGR to reach a value of US$255 billion in 2028, while the global wind energy market size is projected to grow by a CAGR of 9.3% from 2020 to US$127.2 billion by 2027.
Source: The Sun Daily
