According to Bernama, Sim said the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) would begin groundwork on the initiative, though he acknowledged that the country was still at the early stages.

Autonomous driving is classified on a scale of Level 0, where the driver controls all functions, to Level 5, which represents full driverless capability in all conditions.

Level 3 means the vehicle can handle most driving tasks and monitor its surroundings, but requires the driver to take over when the system requests it.

“Malaysia has not started a conversation on autonomous driving. I’m going to push for industries to start looking at this because autonomous driving involves a lot of changes,” Sim told reporters at the 2nd Asean Automotive and Mobility Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

He pointed to developments in the US as a sign of how quickly the sector was moving, saying autonomous driving had expanded from four cities last year to 40 this year, with another 60 expected next year.

“This is growing at an exponential speed, and like it or not, autonomous driving will be coming to Malaysia very soon, and we must all be ready.

“Our industry must be ready to be part of this very important sector. (Industry players) must be ready to upgrade their skills so that they become the suppliers of sensors, suppliers of chips, suppliers of software, and so on,” he said.

Earlier in his speech at the conference, Sim urged industry players to think long-term and prepare ahead of time for autonomous driving.

“Do not just plan for next year. Plan for the next decade. If we only focus on ‘today’, we will always be chasing others.

“But if we start building the foundation for autonomous technology now, Malaysia can lead the region,” he added.