As investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said today, the lower value of the ringgit will serve to attract foreign investments.

In any case, Tengku Zafrul said, the ringgit is still within the “stability range”.

He expressed optimism that the currency will bounce back in the future.

However, his optimism rests on developments externally.

He said that had US interest rates fallen, it would have helped to strengthen the Malaysian economy. The US Federal Reserve has kept the interest rate at 5.25%-5.5%.

However, he also acknowledged that while the lower value of the ringgit made Malaysia more competitive in attracting investments, it is not the main reason why investors look to Malaysia.

“They take a very long-term view of the economy. They also want to see stability and we are within the stability range,” he said at the launching of the BYD Seal at TRX Exchange in Kuala Lumpur today.

Tengku Zafrul said that while trade saw a 13.3% growth in January, it is expected to see an annual growth of 5% in 2024, higher than the World Trade Organization’s estimate of 3.3% growth for global trade.

On a separate note, he said the 2% increase in the sales and service tax would not have a lot of impact on the electric vehicle (EV) sector.

He said the government has targeted to have 4,000 EV charging stations in Malaysia, up from 2,000 now.

Chinese EV maker BYD and local car distributor Sime Darby Motors unveiled the new BYD Seal at today’s event.

The Seal is available in two variants, namely RWD Premium and Performance AWD.

The starting prices for the two variants of the electric sedan are RM179,000 and RM199,800.