Despite foreign stakes, MITI says Proton and Perodua are still national car companies
Sanjay · Mar 16, 2023 06:46 AM
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The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) maintains that Proton and Perodua are still to be treated as national car companies due to their contribution to Malaysia's automotive industry, reports Bernama.
MITI Deputy Minister, Liew Chin Tong, explained that the criteria for Malaysian vehicle projects include having a majority local ownership, focused on developing local supply chains, carrying out local development work, and providing employment opportunities.
Examples of Liew's point is Proton's Tanjung Malim plant, which locally-produces the 1.5-litre 3-cyl turbo that's in the Proton X50, X70, and in the soon-to-come X90
"Proton also appoints more than 180 Tier-1 local companies in its entire supply chain and the average value of local procurement is between 75 percent and 80 percent, especially for models that are fully developed locally," explained Liew.
Old Axias at Perodua's plant. Despite the all-new model, this version will still carry on, as the sole manual variant
Liew explained these in response to a question from fellow Member of Parliament, Lee Chean Chung, who asked why Proton was still awarded various special treatment since it was only 51% locally-owned.
However, Liew maintained that the two named car companies need to ensure that the criteria as outlined under the National Automotive Policy 2020 (NAP 2020) must be followed.
“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.
Hence, he said MITI will constantly monitor Proton and Perodua's compliance to the criteria that have been laid out, and will update the policy from time to time in keeping with the development of the automotive industry as a whole.
With humble beginnings collecting diecast models and spending hours virtually tuning dream cars on the computer, his love of cars has delightfully transformed into a career. Sanjay enjoys how the same passion for cars transcends boundaries and brings people together.
