THAILAND AND MALAYSIA’S COMPETITIVENESS ON ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT TO INCREASE THE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN 2014-2019

Abstract

The development of electric vehicle started in 1800s and it keep improving until now. This development is based on a concern that occur regarding dependence of the fossil fuel and also the CO2 emission and other air pollutant who also supported by another aims that with the existence of electric vehicle it can be an alternative option for eco-friendly transportation. This development of electric vehicle it can be seen through US and China who become the largest markets of electric vehicle and followed by Europe that also have large market and it can be seen through the sales in 2018 surpassing the sales of US for electric vehicle with 1.2 million EVs. Due to the concern of the environment, it attracts Thailand and Malaysia to develop their automotive manufacturing especially in electric vehicle manufacturing. Both of the countries have similar aims regarding the electric vehicle which is become the regional hub for electric vehicle. To manufacture an electric vehicle, it requires high technology and one of the ways to gain high technology is to allow foreign direct investment to their country because one of the benefits of allowing foreign direct investment is gain a technology transfer. Because of Thailand and Malaysia have similar aim which is become the regional hub for electric vehicle and it can cause competitiveness between them, it can be analyze through Porter Diamond Model to see what determinants that each country is superior than the other in order to attract the foreign direct investment to their country.