Geely to invest US$10bil to make Tanjung Malim the region's largest auto city, says Anwar

SEKINCHAN: Geely will invest US$10 billion (RM45.3bil) 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.

"I am mentioning this for the first time. Geely, which is jointly producing cars with Proton, has written a 10-page letter to me to inform that it wants to continue to make Tanjung Malim the largest automobile city in the region. It will kick off with US$10 billion or (over) RM40 billion in investment,” he said in his speech at the Selangor state-level Sentuhan Agro Madani programme here today.

"All this is not for getting commission or gift, but to ensure the growth of our economy and thousands of our young people will secure jobs,” he said.

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 (CEO) 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 Southeast 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 commendable economic performance with a 5.6 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2023, which compared favourably against China, Singapore and Indonesia.

He also said the country successfully attracted some RM71 billion 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 CEO) Elon Musk, Aramco and Geely,” he added.