• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Malaysia Sees Growth for Natural Gas Vehicles in Asia-Pacific Region

Posted on: Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

Malaysia sees growth for natural gas vehicles in Asia-Pacific region

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The potential for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) is growing in the Asia-Pacific region, a senior Malaysian official said here on Tuesday.

"Already we can see a rapid rise in the number of natural gas vehicles in the different countries in this region," said Dato' Sri Chan Kong Choy, Malaysia's transport minister, in a speech to open the First Asia-Pacific Natural Gas Vehicles Association's Conference and Exhibition (ANGVA).

Currently, some 540,000 natural gas vehicles run in Pakistan, and more than 160,000 travels in India, and in Malaysia there are also over 14,500 such vehicles, the official told the conference held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.

The Malaysia government has been supporting and encouraging the NGV industry through various incentives, lower retail price of natural gas for vehicles, exemption of import duty and sales tax for the import of conversion kits, and lower road tax for bi-fuel vehicles and monofuel natural gas vehicles, he said.

Malaysia has also been encouraging the development of the local NGV and the related technology, he added.

There are more than 7.4 million vehicles (excluding motorcycles) in Malaysia, and the market potential is huge, he stressed, adding that the country will increase the number of natural gas filling stations to serve 54,000 vehicles by the year 2010.

More than 370 delegates from about 30 countries and regions are attending the five-day meeting, which will close on Sunday.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

More News in this Category