KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — The Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) is looking to attract more investments to ensure the country’s green transition can be implemented on a larger scale, said its deputy minister Liew Chin Tong.
He said the move reflects MITI’s more comprehensive approach, which does not rely solely on incentives or tax exemptions in driving the country’s aspirations towards a green transition.
“If we only rely on incentives and tax breaks, it won’t have a wider impact... but by focusing more on investment, the green transition can happen on a larger scale.
“MITI will also provide an annual green investment strategy report,” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Negara today.
He said this in response to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Ng Keng Heng about MITI’s plans to prepare a green investment report and introduce a carbon footprint audit to ensure government incentives are not misused.
Meanwhile, Liew said the Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) framework is crucial, especially for the iron and steel industry, in implementing carbon taxes, adding that the framework would help ensure industrial emissions reports can be standardised and uniformly compared.
“Before we implement a carbon tax, we need to start with measurement (through MRV) to determine the amount of emissions, and only then can we implement the carbon tax.
“With the carbon tax in place, we can then generate an ecosystem, namely by establishing an emissions trading system (ETS). ETS is a market for carbon trading,” he said.
Liew added that carbon tax collections would be channelled back into the country’s green transition efforts.
