Malaysia aims to attract more electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers as it seeks to become a regional hub for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an official said on Tuesday.

Citing favourable conditions in Malaysia that make it highly conducive to supporting multinationals' regional hub ambitions, Malaysian Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said in his keynote address at an automotive event here."

Apart from our strategic location, good infrastructure, and rule of law, we also have a highly-established electrical and electronics (E&E) industry that has been reliably feeding other industries, including aerospace, renewable energy, and EVs," he said.

He added that the regional EV market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 33 percent, from around 500 million U.S. dollars in 2021 to 2.7 billion dollars by 2027.

(With UNI inputs)