PUTRAJAYA: Some RM300mil of the total RM1.5bil soft loan approved to Proton Holdings Bhd (Proton) has been disbursed to the national car maker, said Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Siregar Abdullah.
He said the remaining sum would be released in stages and as per request.
“First they (Proton) pay off all the debtors like vendors. We go according to progress, evaluate and release (the soft loan),” he said when asked on the RM1.5bil soft loan after launching the National Code Challenge at the Finance Ministry here on Tuesday.
In April, it was reported that the Government had approved a RM1.5bil loan to Proton with several conditions attached.
Mohd Irwan said the loan was not a bailout but to help rejuvenate Proton. He said the aim of such a loan was to make Proton “a new entity with bigger energy”, with the government behind supporting the national car maker. “And of course with the soft loan we put certain criteria (for Proton),” he said. “We already put a guideline that first they must find a strategic partner and must do a turnaround plan, must pay off all the vendors and everything,” he added.
Mohd Irwan said Proton was in talks with potential strategic partners, without naming the parties. He said in 1993 Proton controlled 70% of the Malaysian market but now it was only 18%. “It (Proton’s share of the Malaysian market) has dropped drastically now. With this new strategy we hope Proton will capture the market,” he further said.
In a related development, Argentine ambassador to Malaysia Manuel Balaguer Salas said the new Perdana has a good chance of penetrating the Argentine market, with the country slowly opening up its economy under the new government of President Mauricio Macri.
The envoy said that although Argentina previously practised “protectionism” including towards its automotive industry, Macri had slowly opened up its market since coming to office in December 2015.
“The Proton Perdana is a beautiful car, the price is good. It has a good possibility to be imported to Argentina,” Salas said on Argentina’s bicentennial independence day celebration on July 9. The newly apppointed ambassador was present at the launch of the Perdana. Salas also revealed the possibility of Proton opening its showroom in Argentina, as part of the company’s effort to expand its presence in the South American market.
Earlier this month, Proton announced the official opening of its first 3S showroom in Santiago, Chile. According to reports, 1,000 units of selected models will be brought into the Chile market.
