Kuala Lumpur, 7 Nov 2012 – UMW Toyota Motor Sdn. Bhd., the largest non-national automotive company in Malaysia celebrated 30 years of automotive excellence, here today. Themed ‘Growing Together in Harmony’, the anniversary celebrates UMW Toyota Motor’s past and future commitment to grow together with the nation through harmonising its core areas of customer, society and industry towards the betterment of the community and the nation through motorization.
UMW Toyota Motor traces its roots back to 1982 when it was established as a joint venture between UMW Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation. Throughout its history, UMW Toyota Motor remains a key player in the Malaysian automotive industry and has created more than 100,000 direct job opportunities for the local workforce.
According to Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin, Chairman of UMW Toyota Motor, the company has contributed significantly to the country’s economy through network expansion and enhancement, localization of products that requires upgrading of manufacturing facilities and vendor development.
“Our strong resource base and productive capacity have become one of the main factors that we have contributed to driving the national economy. We are pleased to announce that we invested and will be investing up to RM 1 billion from 2011 to 2013 that includes further development of our manufacturing facility Assembly Services Sdn. Bhd. (ASSB), expanding our network and concentrating on developing and support our local suppliers so they will be more competitive in this region,” said Tan Sri Asmat.
“UMW Toyota Motor believes human capital development is crucial for long-term growth and success of the company. Thus, we have also introduced the Inter Company Transfer (ICT) programme to enable our employees undergo one to two years of work and training in other Toyota companies in Japan, Thailand and Singapore. The programme is set to improve their skills and experience through exposure at the global level. This program is in line with the Look East Policy that was introduced 30 years ago by then Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in which highlights the assimilation of Japanese working culture and knowledge into local workforce,” added Tan Sri Asmat.
The 30th anniversary celebration highlighted UMW Toyota Motor’s contribution in finding eco-friendly solutions for an increasingly environment-conscious world with the proven success of its Toyota Prius, the world’s first mass-produced and best-selling hybrid car. Including the Prius, Toyota has sold more than four million hybrid vehicles worldwide so far. “We look forward to assisting the Malaysian government to boost the number of eco-friendly vehicles. We will continue our efforts to create awareness on Toyota hybrid technology to allow Malaysians to enjoy the world’s best hybrid technology to promote greener living,” added Tan Sri Asmat.
At the glittering anniversary gala dinner, Tan Sri Asmat was joined by over 500 guests including Mr. Shigeru Nakamura, the Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia, Mr. Yukitoshi Funo, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Corporation, Datuk Takashi Hibi, Deputy Chairman, UMW Toyota Motor, Datuk Syed Hisham Syed Wazir, President and Group CEO of UMW Holdings Bhd, Datuk Ismet Suki, President of UMW Toyota Motor and former deputy chairmen, managing directors and presidents of UMW Toyota Motor.
Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Malaysia, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Jacob Dungau Sagan, the guest of honour representing on behalf of the Minister of International Trade and Industry Malaysia, Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed at the gala dinner, praised UMW Toyota Motor for being a key player in the country’s industrial and economic development over the past 30 years.
“UMW Toyota Motor is a stellar example of successful Malaysian-Japanese cooperation. The company has grown with the nation, contributing to the economy, to the on-going development of human capital, technology, knowledge and skills transfer.”
“Continuous investment towards improvement has resulted in UMW Toyota Motor progressively introducing more models in Malaysia. This has been instrumental in moving the local automotive industry up the value chain. The introduction of new models has brought in new technology that has positively impacted local manufacturers of automotive parts and components. New jobs were also created for a considerable range of skill specializations, adding dynamism to the industry,” said Dato’ Jacob.
“Being a Japanese joint venture, UMW Toyota Motor has assimilated the technological knowledge as well as the work culture from Japan into Malaysia to establish itself as one of the market leaders in the automotive industry,” he added.
Themed “Growing Together in Harmony”, UMW Toyota Motor prides itself in harmonising its CSR three pillars that focus on the environment, road safety and philanthropy. The three pillars include philanthropic through Toyota Classics, an annual world-class classical concert which has raised RM6.6 million for more than 50 NGOs in Malaysia thus far as well as Road Safety programme which targeting preschool and primary school children with the aim to raise better and considerate road users in the future. As part of its long term commitment towards the environment, UMW Toyota Motor has also introduced the Toyota Eco Youth programme to cultivate awareness and encourage respect for the environment among youth in secondary school and their surrounding community using problem solving methodology.
