Malaysia’s Proton starts production in Pakistan
Pakistan will be the first country to manufacture Malaysia’s home-made car brand Proton outside the Southeast Asian nation. A joint venture between Malaysia’s Proton Motors and Pakistan’s Al Haj group will begin producing cars from June this year, officials said on March 22 at a ceremony in Islamabad unveiling a series of business accords between the two countries.
The Proton joint venture, first agreed last year, was the centerpiece of a series of agreements signed during a visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Pakistan. Officials said the deals would worth between $800 million 900 million.
“These partnerships are just the beginning and I look forward to more and more partnerships,” Pakistan’s Board of Investment chairman Haroon Sharif said at the signing ceremony, at which Mahathir presented Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan with a symbolic car key.
Al Haj Automotive, the official distributor for Proton vehicles in Pakistan, will make an initial investment of $30 million to build the plant on a green field site near Karachi, in Sindh province. The Proton plant is the latest in a series of assembly deals set up in Pakistan by international auto makers including Volkswagen AG and Hyundai Motors.
“We were told that the first Proton which will be assembled here will be on the roads next June in Pakistan,” Sharif said.
Proton chairman Syed Faisal Albar said that, as a start, Proton was targeting a production capacity of 25,000 a year beginning from June 2020 from the new plant, with the Saga as the first model.
According to Albar, Pakistan could become the car maker’s gateway to enter other countries, especially such with multi-trade agreements with Pakistan.
“Hopefully, they can become a gateway for us. Therefore, we don’t need to go everywhere. We just focus on key markets that have trade agreements with surrounding countries. That will become our door [for new markets],” he told Malaysian media after the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony of the plant.
Apart from the the Proton accord, Malaysia’s Edotco Group signed agreements in the telecom sector with local units of China Mobile and Telenor, as well as local mobile group Jazz.
Other deals included a halal meat agreement signed by the foods unit of Pakistan’s Fauji Foundation conglomerate and a $20 million venture capital agreement between Pakistan’s Fatima Ventures and Gobi Partners of Malaysia.
Pakistan will be the first country to manufacture Malaysia’s home-made car brand Proton outside the Southeast Asian nation. A joint venture between Malaysia’s Proton Motors and Pakistan’s Al Haj group will begin producing cars from June this year, officials said on March 22 at a ceremony in Islamabad unveiling a series of business accords between the two countries. The Proton joint venture, first agreed last year, was the centerpiece of a series of agreements signed during a visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Pakistan. Officials said the deals would worth between $800 million 900 million. “These partnerships are...
Pakistan will be the first country to manufacture Malaysia’s home-made car brand Proton outside the Southeast Asian nation. A joint venture between Malaysia’s Proton Motors and Pakistan’s Al Haj group will begin producing cars from June this year, officials said on March 22 at a ceremony in Islamabad unveiling a series of business accords between the two countries.
The Proton joint venture, first agreed last year, was the centerpiece of a series of agreements signed during a visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Pakistan. Officials said the deals would worth between $800 million 900 million.
“These partnerships are just the beginning and I look forward to more and more partnerships,” Pakistan’s Board of Investment chairman Haroon Sharif said at the signing ceremony, at which Mahathir presented Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan with a symbolic car key.
Al Haj Automotive, the official distributor for Proton vehicles in Pakistan, will make an initial investment of $30 million to build the plant on a green field site near Karachi, in Sindh province. The Proton plant is the latest in a series of assembly deals set up in Pakistan by international auto makers including Volkswagen AG and Hyundai Motors.
“We were told that the first Proton which will be assembled here will be on the roads next June in Pakistan,” Sharif said.
Proton chairman Syed Faisal Albar said that, as a start, Proton was targeting a production capacity of 25,000 a year beginning from June 2020 from the new plant, with the Saga as the first model.
According to Albar, Pakistan could become the car maker’s gateway to enter other countries, especially such with multi-trade agreements with Pakistan.
“Hopefully, they can become a gateway for us. Therefore, we don’t need to go everywhere. We just focus on key markets that have trade agreements with surrounding countries. That will become our door [for new markets],” he told Malaysian media after the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony of the plant.
Apart from the the Proton accord, Malaysia’s Edotco Group signed agreements in the telecom sector with local units of China Mobile and Telenor, as well as local mobile group Jazz.
Other deals included a halal meat agreement signed by the foods unit of Pakistan’s Fauji Foundation conglomerate and a $20 million venture capital agreement between Pakistan’s Fatima Ventures and Gobi Partners of Malaysia.
