Not very long after Dr. Mahathir resigned as Chairman of Proton the knives were out lead by of a person which I certainly did not expect... MITI Minister Tok Pa, the gentleman from Kelantan. The chorus from Rahman Dahlan is expected lah but Tok Pa...hmm. Terribly dissapointed.
All because Proton wanted a measly RM1.5 Billion R&D Grant and a 1.5 Billion Soft Loan from the Government or is it nak lepas geram pada Dr. Mahathir? Wallahualam.
The NST lead theattack reporting on Proton:
In the mean time Mat Rodi came out in defence of Proton with facts and figures which should convince the Gomen to accede to Proton's request for funds.
1- Within 24 hours after the resignation of Tun Dr Mahathir as Proton’s Chairman, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry produced a damning assessment on Proton.
2- It would probably be the first time in Malaysia’s history we see a senior minister giving an unfavorable feedback on a private-owned company, especially when the company is not on a collision course with the concerned minister.
3- Nevertheless, it is mind-boggling to see at least 6 cabinet ministers being used by certain leaders for the purpose of trying to shame Proton.
4- According to the statement, the Government cannot continuously protect the national car maker; hence Proton needs to “graduate from protection”. Malaysia, in fact, should learn from South Korea and Japan.
5- In 2009, the United States of America injected USD150 billion in order to save General Motors from bankruptcy. Of course, this is not considered as protectionism and no case study should be made why the world biggest capitalist decided to take such decision.
6- In 2014, Australia’s car industry was practically dead when the Government did nothing to save the industry. The planned exit by Toyota, Ford and Holden from the country will trigger a net loss of 200,000 jobs, with about USD29 billion wiped out from Australia’s GDP. Again, no case study has been made.
7- A year ago, Khazanah took Malaysia Airlines private by injecting RM6 billion of public funds. It is indeed a bold and courageous move- as an introduction of the Proton 30 years ago.
8- While Proton is bleeding by the millions of Ringgit for the past few years, it never had to resort to what MAS did where 6,000 workers being told they have to be sacrificed in order to save the national airline. It’s like telling a man being devoured by a tiger that he is really helping to preserve a treasured species.
9- Maybe because of the failure to take such drastic measures that the minister believes Proton is being managed unprofessionally and led by incompetent team.
10- The airlines industry is never a core industry in Malaysia. The automotive sector is. The industry employs more than 550,000 people and contributes nearly RM30 Billion to a country’s GDP to date. It is because of that, the previous Government has directly and indirectly assisted Proton to the tune of RM13.9 billion since its inception.
11- However, the incentives given have not been wasted. Hopefully, this note will tell the person who made use of you to acknowledge all these facts.
12- First, Proton has fully paid off its RM800 million loans received from the Government by using internal resources.
13- Second, Proton has sold more than 4 million cars. It means that they have been taxed by the Government. Since its founding, Proton has paid approximately RM24 billion in taxes.
14- Third, by having Malaysians buy national cars instead of imported ones, the capital outflow prevented by Proton is estimated to be around RM 120 billion if we take RM30,000 as an average price per car. This money is being circulated within our economy.
15- Monetarily, Proton is a good investment for the economy.
16- How about Proton’s contribution through job creation and transfer of technology? More than 77,000 people are employed directly by Proton. Additionally, there are 400 vendors supplying to the national carmaker. Proton is the most active company in the country when it comes to Research and Development. Today, they have registered almost 2,800 of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
17- The minister himself admitted that when he said a number of Proton vendors have approached him. Instead of fixing what really caused Proton’s market shares to dwindle, the ministry gave soft loans to alleviate vendors’ burden. This, however, does not solve Proton’s problem.
18- How about the unfair competition in the market where foreign cars get exemptions when they do not conform to our specifications? How about the definition of national car where foreign car makers can only have 40% local content to benefit from the tax-free status of national cars? How about the decision made by the Government to allow almost unlimited import of foreign cars from countries which are the same countries that made it bureaucratically difficult for our cars to enter their market?
19- All these policies have reduced foreign car makers cost which give them advantage over proton. Is this fair? Where is the solution?
20- The only solution that the Minister had for all these problems is to ask Proton to get a strategic foreign partner. To them, the locals are deemed unfit, unprofessional and incompetent. Therefore, we must sell our controlling stakes in Proton to foreign marques.
21- Perodua runs by a different model. Although its financial performance should be commended, none of the cars are 100% built by them. Proton, on the other hand has several cars that are 100% built by Malaysians. When Proton Saga was introduced in 1985, it has 19% locally made components. 15 years later, Proton Waja was built using almost entirely by locals.
22- Every country will protect their national car even in developed countries. In South Korea, all foreign cars must be conducted under Korean testing standards which usually come at a very high cost. In Japan, they carve out the profitable and high volume market in minicars below 660cc. In Japan’s unique driving environment, it is very unlikely that a foreign company would want to build such car. In China, all foreign car makers have to partner with a state-owned company because nothing happens without the approval of the government.
23- Here in Malaysia, protectionism is deemed a negative thing.
24- It is strange that when an unsustainable business model like 1MDB posted a net loss of RM665.36 million for the year ended March 31, 2014, and having a serious cash-flow issues, the cabinet members decided to give almost RM1 billion standby credit facility.
25- But when Proton requests for assistance to reimburse its R&D cost and soft loans, some ministers ridicule and humiliate it. It is very strange, indeed.
Mat Rodi
Read in full with BM translation at Mat Rodi's own blog here.
All because Proton wanted a measly RM1.5 Billion R&D Grant and a 1.5 Billion Soft Loan from the Government or is it nak lepas geram pada Dr. Mahathir? Wallahualam.
The NST lead the
No more free ride for Proton?
Unfortunately for reasons unknown DRB Hicom the ultimate owner of Proton has not yet made a statement on Dr Mahathir's departure nor of their plans for Proton in the future...perhaps soon.In the mean time Mat Rodi came out in defence of Proton with facts and figures which should convince the Gomen to accede to Proton's request for funds.
PROTON: A NOTE TO THE CABINET MEMBERS
1- Within 24 hours after the resignation of Tun Dr Mahathir as Proton’s Chairman, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry produced a damning assessment on Proton.
2- It would probably be the first time in Malaysia’s history we see a senior minister giving an unfavorable feedback on a private-owned company, especially when the company is not on a collision course with the concerned minister.
3- Nevertheless, it is mind-boggling to see at least 6 cabinet ministers being used by certain leaders for the purpose of trying to shame Proton.
4- According to the statement, the Government cannot continuously protect the national car maker; hence Proton needs to “graduate from protection”. Malaysia, in fact, should learn from South Korea and Japan.
5- In 2009, the United States of America injected USD150 billion in order to save General Motors from bankruptcy. Of course, this is not considered as protectionism and no case study should be made why the world biggest capitalist decided to take such decision.
6- In 2014, Australia’s car industry was practically dead when the Government did nothing to save the industry. The planned exit by Toyota, Ford and Holden from the country will trigger a net loss of 200,000 jobs, with about USD29 billion wiped out from Australia’s GDP. Again, no case study has been made.
7- A year ago, Khazanah took Malaysia Airlines private by injecting RM6 billion of public funds. It is indeed a bold and courageous move- as an introduction of the Proton 30 years ago.
8- While Proton is bleeding by the millions of Ringgit for the past few years, it never had to resort to what MAS did where 6,000 workers being told they have to be sacrificed in order to save the national airline. It’s like telling a man being devoured by a tiger that he is really helping to preserve a treasured species.
9- Maybe because of the failure to take such drastic measures that the minister believes Proton is being managed unprofessionally and led by incompetent team.
10- The airlines industry is never a core industry in Malaysia. The automotive sector is. The industry employs more than 550,000 people and contributes nearly RM30 Billion to a country’s GDP to date. It is because of that, the previous Government has directly and indirectly assisted Proton to the tune of RM13.9 billion since its inception.
11- However, the incentives given have not been wasted. Hopefully, this note will tell the person who made use of you to acknowledge all these facts.
12- First, Proton has fully paid off its RM800 million loans received from the Government by using internal resources.
13- Second, Proton has sold more than 4 million cars. It means that they have been taxed by the Government. Since its founding, Proton has paid approximately RM24 billion in taxes.
14- Third, by having Malaysians buy national cars instead of imported ones, the capital outflow prevented by Proton is estimated to be around RM 120 billion if we take RM30,000 as an average price per car. This money is being circulated within our economy.
15- Monetarily, Proton is a good investment for the economy.
16- How about Proton’s contribution through job creation and transfer of technology? More than 77,000 people are employed directly by Proton. Additionally, there are 400 vendors supplying to the national carmaker. Proton is the most active company in the country when it comes to Research and Development. Today, they have registered almost 2,800 of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
17- The minister himself admitted that when he said a number of Proton vendors have approached him. Instead of fixing what really caused Proton’s market shares to dwindle, the ministry gave soft loans to alleviate vendors’ burden. This, however, does not solve Proton’s problem.
18- How about the unfair competition in the market where foreign cars get exemptions when they do not conform to our specifications? How about the definition of national car where foreign car makers can only have 40% local content to benefit from the tax-free status of national cars? How about the decision made by the Government to allow almost unlimited import of foreign cars from countries which are the same countries that made it bureaucratically difficult for our cars to enter their market?
19- All these policies have reduced foreign car makers cost which give them advantage over proton. Is this fair? Where is the solution?
20- The only solution that the Minister had for all these problems is to ask Proton to get a strategic foreign partner. To them, the locals are deemed unfit, unprofessional and incompetent. Therefore, we must sell our controlling stakes in Proton to foreign marques.
21- Perodua runs by a different model. Although its financial performance should be commended, none of the cars are 100% built by them. Proton, on the other hand has several cars that are 100% built by Malaysians. When Proton Saga was introduced in 1985, it has 19% locally made components. 15 years later, Proton Waja was built using almost entirely by locals.
22- Every country will protect their national car even in developed countries. In South Korea, all foreign cars must be conducted under Korean testing standards which usually come at a very high cost. In Japan, they carve out the profitable and high volume market in minicars below 660cc. In Japan’s unique driving environment, it is very unlikely that a foreign company would want to build such car. In China, all foreign car makers have to partner with a state-owned company because nothing happens without the approval of the government.
23- Here in Malaysia, protectionism is deemed a negative thing.
24- It is strange that when an unsustainable business model like 1MDB posted a net loss of RM665.36 million for the year ended March 31, 2014, and having a serious cash-flow issues, the cabinet members decided to give almost RM1 billion standby credit facility.
25- But when Proton requests for assistance to reimburse its R&D cost and soft loans, some ministers ridicule and humiliate it. It is very strange, indeed.
Mat Rodi
Read in full with BM translation at Mat Rodi's own blog here.
Well, I say if more than 77,000 Malaysians directly employed by Proton is not enough to convince the Gomen to help Proton...God help us All ...as this is indeed a useless Gomen which does not care about its own citizens.
No comments:
Post a Comment