Its chief Mohd Bahrin Abd Karim said Sabah would be a strategic location for Proton-Geely to build an automotive factory outside of Peninsular Malaysia as it is situated at the centre of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
In June this year, Proton’s parent company, DRB-Hicom Bhd signed a definitive agreement with Geely, a Chinese automotive conglomerate, to sell a 49.9% stake in Proton Holdings Bhd to the latter.
The strategic partnership will propel the production of Proton cars at the international level including in Southeast Asia.
Mohd Bahrin said Sabah would have a world-class port at Sepanggar 10 years from now, as well as the Pan Borneo Highway, which would connect the state with other regions in the BIMP-EAGA, especially Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia.
“KK Umno Youth believes that it is time for Sabah to have an automotive plant to enable the state to grab the opportunities and market potential of the automotive industry in the BIMP-EAGA region,” he said in a statement issued at the Kota Kinabalu Umno Youth, Wanita and Puteri delegates meeting here today.
The meeting was officiated by Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani who is also Umno Supreme Council Member.
Elaborating further, Mohd Bahrin said he was optimistic the development of the automotive plant would directly open up employment opportunities to more youths in Sabah in the automotive sector, which ultimately would reduce unemployment.
He also called on DRB-HICOM, which previously had a branch in Sabah, to reopen its branch in preparation for the proposal.