Malaysia aims to be regional production base for the automotive industry

'Malaysia's new automotive policy,' said a senior official from MATRADE during the ongoing Caravan Malaysia 2003 exhibition at Expo Centre Sharjah ( 20 to 24 December 2003), 'announced by the Malaysian Government in December 2002, aims at making Malaysia a regional production base for the automotive industry and to inject competition into the domestic market.

' Various programmes are being implemented to further diversify and upgrade the quality of products being exported, with strong emphasis on research and development as well as design-engineering activities,' he added.

Malaysia's vibrant automotive sector, according to the official, grew by 6.6 % with 456,882 units produced in 2002, while sales improved by 9.7 %. Exports of passenger cars increased by 76.7 per cent, from RM 186.8 million in 2001 to RM 330.1 million in 2002, while overall automotive exports increased by 57.1%, from RM 220.1 million in 2001 to RM 345.7 million in 2002.

Participating at the Caravan Malaysia Show, which has attracted some 4,287 trade visitors from 32 countries as of day two, is Malaysia's first and most diversified national automobile manufacturer, Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Berhad, popularly known as PROTON.

In less then eighteen years, PROTON has progressed from being a domestic manufacturer of a single model into one with a wide range of models, with significant global presence as a competitive and innovative brand of automotive products.

PROTON's participation is part of their strategy to focus more on the Middle East's fast changing and competitive automotive market.

Mr. Hamdan Mohammed Nor, the Head of PROTON's GCC/Middle East International Business Division said during the show, 'Focus on the Middle East includes expediting a Completely Knocked-Down ( CKD ) programme in Iran that will be capable of assembling 30,000 units a year. Under the CKD programme, joint ventures between Malaysian and Iranian automotive component manufacturers will also produce designated components in Iran.'

'We are also looking into the feasibility of turning Iran into a gateway for our cars to the Middle East. PROTON has already established greater presence with the opening of a new 3S showroom (sales, service, spare parts) in Syria,' he added.

Speaking on PROTON's world-wide reach today, Mr. Hamdan said, 'Today, PROTON is one of the region's leading automobile manufacturers, exporting cars to the world and making waves in the international market as it expands across the globe. PROTON currently exports its cars to more than twenty active markets across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean and Latin America,' he concluded.

In the United Kingdom automobile market, PROTON cars have been rated third among the best models, for fewer breakdowns and less mechanical failure, according to the 1999 J.P. Power Survey. In addition, the survey which looks at customer satisfaction in the United kingdom, has continuously ranked PROTON in the top twenty since 1996.

Caravan Malaysia 2003 is open everyday from 20 to 24 December 2003, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm to traders and from 4.30 pm to 9.30 pm to the general public and trade.