Two important events unfolded for Proton late last week, first was the exchange of documents for a licensing and technical assistance agreement with ALHAJ Automobile (Alhaj) from Pakistan, and second was a loan from China Construction Bank (CCB) for a total of RM1.88 billion. The exchange of documents for both deals was done during Tun Mahathir’s visit to Beijing to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

The agreement with Alhaj is a continuation of the two parties’ agreement related to the building of a manufacturing plant in Karachi to assemble Proton cars for the Pakistan market. The ground breaking ceremony for the factory was done in March and built with an initial investment of USD30 million. The project will create 2,000 jobs in its first three years of operations, in addition to the estimated 20,000 more of indirect jobs for supporting industries in the coming years.

As for the banking facilities with CCB, Proton has said that the funds will be for the company’s business expansion plans as it strives to be the number one automotive brand in Malaysia and number three in ASEAN by 2027.

The Malaysian delegation to China also allowed some vendors to formally form joint ventures with local companies already supplying to Geely. 16 Chinese vendors signed up for the initiative and technical agreements with six coming in as foreign direct investors in Malaysia. The initial investment from this move totals over RM250 million with 56 per cent of the vendors supplying the electronics and electrical components sector.