Proton is planning to set up a car plant in Bangladesh “soon” according to reports by the Bangladeshi media. This was revealed after Proton chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is in town for a three-day official visit.
This may come as a surprise to many, although it’s not the first time a Proton factory in Bangladesh has been mooted. In September, Dhaka Tribune reported that Proton expressed keen interest in setting up a joint venture car manufacturing plant in Bangladesh.
The report quoted commerce ministry officials as saying that a two-member Proton delegation held meetings with the top government officials and Bangladeshi conglomerate PHP Group, the supposed local partner in the proposed JV. “We are visiting Bangladesh to meet the potential stakeholders in car manufacturing industry for assessing the car demand as per the survey,” the Malaysians were quoted as saying.
In 2009, it was reported that Malaysian company Agate Group expressed interest to build a JV car plant with local company Walton High Tech Industries, although not much came out of that. It seems like things move pretty slowly there – Indian giant Tata launched its low-cost Nano in Bangladesh this August, three years after the initial planned introduction.
