Prime Minister Anwar said the investment would create thousands of job opportunities for Malaysians.
SEKINCHAN: Chinese automobile manufacturer Geely will invest US$10bil (RM45bil) to turn Tanjung Malim, Perak, into the region’s largest auto city.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the aspiration, conveyed by the company in a letter to him last night, would create thousands of job opportunities for Malaysians, Bernama reported.
“I am mentioning this for the first time. Geely, which is jointly producing cars with Proton, has written a 10-page letter to inform me that it wants to continue to make Tanjung Malim the largest automobile city in the region.
“It will kick off with US$10bil (RM45bil) in investment,” he said in his speech at the Selangor state-level Sentuhan Agro Madani programme here yesterday.
“All this is not for getting commissions or gifts, but to ensure the growth of our economy and thousands of our young people will secure jobs,” he said.
The announcement saw shares of DRB-Hicom Bhd
closing 3.6% up to RM1.44, its highest in over two months.
On April 1, DRB-Hicom signed a heads of agreement with Geely in Beijing regarding the development of an automotive industry hub in Tanjung Malim.
Geely completed its acquisition of a 49.9% stake in Proton from parent DRB-Hicom in September 2017.
DRB-Hicom recorded a revenue of RM4.1bil and a net profit of RM107.9mil or earnings per share of 5.58 sen in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023.
The performance was mainly driven by stronger automotive segmental margins, contribution from its automotive associates and services segmental performance which partially offset lower contribution from DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd.
Meanwhile, Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the Saudi Arabian government and the kingdom’s oil and gas (O&G) giant Aramco will focus on its investment and operational expansion in Malaysia.
“Aramco chief executive officer Amin Nasser has informed me that Aramco is comfortable with the government’s policies and leadership and has decided to make Malaysia the hub for Saudi Arabia’s O&G expansion in South-East Asia.
“Coincidentally, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, who performed the haj (recently) and sat next to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Salman Al Saud, related that the central focus of Saudi Arabia’s Asian investments is in Malaysia,” he said.
Anwar noted that Malaysia has recorded a commendable economic performance with a 5.6% growth in the first quarter of 2023, which compared favourably against China, Singapore and Indonesia.
He also said the country successfully attracted some RM71bil worth of (approved) investments in the first three months of this year, contributed partly by the political stability.
“This figure excludes the investments from Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk, Aramco and Geely,” he added. — Agencies
