PROTON NEEDS TO GO GLOBAL

Proton needs to go global



KUALA LUMPUR: Proton should consider working with a foreign automobile company as the way forward, and to compete globally.


Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said the committee felt this was the best way for Proton to expand its market share.


»There used to be 60 automobile companies in the world 20 years ago, but today there are only 12 left after merger exercises« DATUK SERI AZMI KHALID
He said it would be difficult for Proton to be in the competitive motor industry if it did not have a foreign partner.


Azmi said although Proton’s performance had improved, as reflected in its financial report, the company should consider working with an international carmaker.
“There used to be 60 automobile companies in the world 20 years ago, but today there are only 12 left after merger exercises.


“If Proton wants to compete in the world, PAC advises that it finds a strategic partner to expand in the industry,” he told a press conference after a PAC meeting with Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar at the Parliament here yesterday.


Last year, Proton’s plans to collaborate with Volkswagen AG and General Motors Corp fell through; the Government felt it needed to give the national carmaker more time to turn around.
Meanwhile, Azmi also said that Khazanah should consider selling off some of its companies that were not giving any returns and had become a burden.


He said such companies had become an obstacle to Khazanah’s growth; Khazanah had to bail out four out of its 11 companies.


He added that Khazanah should invest outside the country and not limit its investment domestically as it could be seen as monopolising the domestic market.
Azmi said the PAC had proposed that the company be transparent in its procurement as well as in awarding contracts.


ARTICLES SOURCE: http://thestar.com.my