PROTON Holdings Berhad (Proton) and Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) are still regarded as national car manufacturers thanks to their contributions to the nation’s automotive sector, Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong told the Dewan Rakyat today.
However, the Iskandar Puteri MP pointed out that both car manufacturers must follow the requirements laid out in the National Automotive Policy 2020 (NAP 2020).
“With the criteria laid out under the NAP 2020, any company other than Proton and Perodua that can meet those criteria is also eligible to be considered as a national car project and be given similar treatment,” he said in a question-and-answer session in Parliament.
He was responding to Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung’s question on why Proton is still given special treatment despite the fact that Malaysians own only 51% of the company.
According to Liew, in order to be recognised as a national car brand, the company must be majority owned by Malaysians and focus on the development of local supply chains.
He went on to say that the criteria also include the carmaker’s capacity to perform local research and development (R&D) and provide variety of employment opportunities for locals.
According to Liew, Proton, like other local vehicle manufacturing companies such as Perodua, Honda, Toyota, and Volvo, receives direct tax incentives based on manufacturing activities that are encouraged.
He also states that Proton has created 8,500 job opportunities, with 99% of them coming from the local community.
“In addition, Proton has appointed more than 180 Tier-1 local companies that are involved in the overall supply chain, while the average value of local procurement is in between 75% to 80% especially for the models developed locally,” he said during the session.
“Proton has also carried out local research and development activities to enable it to assemble the platform, upper body and engine for models such as Persona, Iriz, Exora, Saga and various other models before.”
As a result, he noted that his ministry will continue to monitor Proton and Perodua’s adherence with the criteria and will update the policy on a regular basis to reflect changes in the global automotive industry. – March 13, 2023
Main pic credit: Bernama
