Tabling the proposal, Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI)'s Chief Executive Officer, M. Madani Sahari, said this can be done through emulating the Japanese automotive model that emphasized on the two concepts and customising it according to Asean's definition and needs.

"I believe the trend or demand for more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient vehicles are gradually hitting the Asean market and this will probably continue over the next five to ten years," said Madani, who was one of the panelist at the automotive panel dialogue, held on the sidelines of the 4th Annual Dialogue of the Federation of Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Asean (FJCCIA) here Friday.

In 2010, Malaysia recorded the highest total industry volume (TIV) of 605,000 cars, which saw significant awareness of environment with increase in sales for fuel efficient and hybrid cars.

By implementing these two concepts, he said the region's automotive players could also further capitalise their strength and leverage on each other's capabilities especially towards realisation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.

So far, there has been no aggressive movement by member countries to actually adopt these concepts, he said.

Meanwhile, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA)'s Chief Representative Asia Office, Shinichiro Oka, said Japan had the experience in implementing 3R and ELV concepts.

They have been successful and Asean members can learn from them in formulating the practices, he said.

Currently, JAMA members are present in 62 production facilities across Asean countries that employ more than 90,000 workers, he added.

During the two-hour dialogue, about 50 players from the automotive industry participated in the session. (Bernama)