A highly anticipated new tax and tariff structure for Malaysia's troubled auto industry will be announced by November, a deputy minister said today.

"Currently, the policy is being fine-tuned. The announcement will be made in a few weeks' time," Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would announce the policy by November, he said. The policy has already been delayed by more than two months.

Husni said the policy would focus on ensuring the competitiveness of national carmaker Proton, and promote having more vendors to boost production and sales locally and abroad.

"We're also looking at enhancing the domestic market and the industry as a whole," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

The government was expected in the policy to address several issues affecting the motor industry, including discrepancies arising from the changes in tax structure announced early this year, which have put local assemblers at a disadvantage compared with those in other regional countries.

Dr M blames APs

The controversial system of issuing Approved Permits (APs) for vehicle imports was also widely expected to be addressed under the policy, after a recent row over the issue between Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz and former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir, who launched the Proton national car in the 1980s, has blamed the AP scheme for the automaker's flagging sales by flooding the market with undervalued imports.

Malaysia announced last year that from January 2005 it would cut import duties on cars from Southeast Asian countries in line with a regional trade pact, but continue giving local producers rebates to minimise the impact.

Then in January it delayed implementation of the plan until June, pending a review of the tariff structure, on concerns that foreign companies might shelve new investments or even relocate current Malaysian operations.