TANJUNG MALIM: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on Proton Holdings Bhd to expand its global presence, targeting markets in Europe and South America.
Anwar emphasized the importance of leveraging Malaysia's strong international relationships to market Proton cars globally, particularly during the upcoming 47th Asean Summit in October, where he wants Proton to showcase its electric vehicles (EV).
"Apart from our Asean compatriots like China, South Korea, India, and Japan, more countries will attend. Presidents from Brazil and South Africa will also come," he said during the launch of Proton's first EV plant on Thursday (Sept 4).
"We want to bring the heads of states and delegates from the participating countries to see for themselves the capabilities, performance, and technology of Proton, so that we can penetrate their market.
"I met the Egyptian Prime Minister in Beijing, and he told me that Proton's cars are emerging as an affordable choice for their citizens," he added.
Anwar expressed gratitude to China for sharing their technology with Malaysia, especially in the automobile industry.
"Their readiness to allow the transfer of technology at various levels gave opportunities to our youth to create our own products," he noted.
He also hopes that Proton's EV cars can be priced lower and more competitively to meet the needs of the middle-income group.
"I was informed that we can lower the cost to a competitive price. It can fulfill the needs of those with lower wages to own cars at a lower cost," he said.
The new plant is capable of producing up to 45,000 units of EV cars annually and will produce multiple models from Proton’s Global Modular Architecture, including the Proton e.Mas 7 and e.Mas 5.
Also present at the event were Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Transport Minister Anthony Loke, and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang.
Anwar also witnessed the exchange of a memorandum of understanding between Keretapi Api Tanah Melayu Bhd, AHTV Alliance Sdn Bhd, and Railway Assets Corporation to conduct a feasibility study for building a railway logistics hub in Behrang.
