Proton chairman Syed Faisal Albar said the company’s export strategy was to look at countries that had multi-trade agreements with other nearby countries.
“Hopefully, they can become gateways for us.
“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 (to new markets),” he told Malaysian reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony of the plant yesterday.
The event was officiated by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his Pakistan counterpart, Imran Khan.
Alhaj Automotive, the official distributor for Proton vehicles in Pakistan, will make an initial investment of US$30 million (RM122 million) to build the plant on a greenfield site near Karachi.
Syed Faisal said Proton had repositioned its export strategy and would look for “meaningful” markets and be there for the long term.
“Rather than just send CBU (completely built-up cars) to the dealers to sell, the new strategy includes assembling cars in that local market.
“With that, you assure the local government or you get it to be more motivated to be with you in the longer term because we create jobs.
“This is like the partnership (in Pakistan), where within three years, we will be creating 2,000 direct jobs.
“We estimate that at the downstream level, which is the entire ecosystem of the automotive sector that we want to create, we will be creating another 20,000 ancillary jobs,” he said.
Syed Faisal said Proton chose Pakistan to establish its first overseas assembly plant because of the market’s high potential.
“There are 17 cars for every 1,000 people; that’s quite low. We want to go into the market for the longer term.
“Besides that, there’re not many foreign brands that exist in Pakistan currently.
“Therefore, we believe there’s a first mover advantage if we go in early enough before everybody crowds in. Then we can gain long-term benefits,” he said.
He said Proton was targeting a production capacity of 25,000 cars a year at the new plant from June next year, with Saga as the first model.
“We need to position according to the tax structure incentives in each country.
“We are focusing on the Saga because it is 1.5 litres and below. The tax structure of 1.6 lires and above is different.
“We are looking into the possibility of introducing other models.
“We are also studying the consumer behaviour in Pakistan. Some products may work in Malaysia and other countries but don’t work in this country,” he said.
Syed Faisal said Karachi was chosen as the site for the plant because it was the centre of the automotive industry in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has expressed hope that Pakistan will continue to import more palm oil and palm oil-based products as well as remove any non-tariff barriers on Malaysian goods.
Malaysia is also ready to share its experience and expertise in the halal industry with Pakistan, with both countries noting the growing momentum for halal products among consumers worldwide, a joint statement by Mahathir and Imran Khan said.