RIYADH — Malaysia’s car, Proton, will make its debut on Saudi market in September this year, giving a further push to the market for Malaysian products.
Malaysia’s Ambassador Dr. Ismail Haji Ibrahim told Arab News that the new car, a 100 percent indigenous car, is based on Japanese technology. “In the past the ratio of Japanese to Malaysian technology was 80:20. Now it’s 100 percent Malaysian car in the mid-size range that comes with 1600 cc liter engine.”
He added that the car is currently being exported to Egypt, Turkey, UK and Australia.
Al-Rashed Al-Thunaiyan Auto Co.of Riyadh is the agent for this car, the second for this agency, which already imports Perodua, a small-size Malaysian car.
Referring to the bilateral trade, the ambassador said the Kingdom is Malaysia’s second largest exporter in Southeast Asia. Its bilateral trade with the Kingdom increased by 37.3 percent — up from $1.47 billion in 2004 to $ 2.01 billion last year. However, the increase was mainly due to the 56.5 percent jump in imports from Saudi Arabia.
The ambassador said the entry of Proton car into the Saudi market would help to diversify the market for Malaysian products into the Kingdom. Currently, that country’s major export items in terms of bilateral trade are electrical and electronic goods (19.1 percent of total exports), palm oil (16.3 percent), wood products (11.6 percent), machinery, appliances and parts (9.1 percent) and metal products (8.5 percent).
The ambassador said Malaysia’s exports to the Kingdom declined by 2.1 percent-from $ 481.8 million in 2004 to $ 473.2 million last year, the balance of trade being in the Kingdom’s favor. “The decrease in Malaysia’s exports to the Kingdom was mainly due to decline in the export of electrical and electronic products as well as palm oil,” he observed. Among the Kingdom’s exports to Malaysia, crude oil was the major export item accounting for 65.3 percent share of the total imports from Saudi Arabia.
