I wish to take this opportunity to thank the member of the Board of Directors of The Vehicle Theft Reduction Council of Malaysia (VTREC) and the Inspector General of Police Malaysia for the confidence entrusted upon me to be appointed as Chairman of the Board. I would also like to convey my appreciation to my predecessor YDH CP Dato’ Sri Huzir bin Mohamed who has done an excellent job in garnering the collaboration of stakeholders and steering the direction of VTREC in its goals towards reducing the rate of vehicle theft.
VTREC has been established since the last 13 years, in 2007 following the National Seminar of Vehicle Theft co-organised with Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM). VTREC is supported by its stakeholders especially from government agencies such as PDRM, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Ministry of Transportation (MOT), Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ), Custom & Excise Department (KASTAM) and Puspakom Sdn Bhd (PUSPAKOM). The supports and co-operations by the stakeholders have resulted a significant of 60% reduction in vehicle theft since 2013. The reduction in vehicle theft is consistent to that experienced by the insurance industry. The Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM) reported a drop of more than 70% in vehicle theft from 2013 to 2021.
This indicates that the effort of the Government in reducing the national crime index coupled with the private sector collaboration has been successful. The factors that had contributed to this reduction are manifold ranging from the improvement in the legal framework such as the introduction of the Prevention of Crime Act (POCA), the tightening up the enforcement agency surveillance at the ports and border security areas and the upgrading of Government’s administrative procedures such as the implementation of the biometric system in the transfer of vehicle ownership, to name a few. The insurance sector further tightens the gap of opportunities for car theft by implementing system to caution insurance companies for cases of ‘rebirthing’ of stolen and ‘total loss’ cars and tightening procedures for inspection of vehicles declared as ‘Beyond Economic Repair’ (BER).
Going forward, I will continue to encourage VTREC to work closely with the stakeholders to take up several new initiatives to bring VTREC to a higher level which also cater for proactive role in tackling vehicle theft crime at the regional level.
Finally, I would like to thank the insurance industry in extending their financial and administrative support given to VTREC towards this cause.
Thank you.
CP DATO’ SRI ABD JALIL HASSAN
Chairman
VTREC
