Ever since the announcement of entry of Proton in Pakistan, car enthusiasts have shown keen interest. The new entrant will certainly help create more choices for people in the country which is currently dominated by a handful of local automakers.

In August 2018, Malaysian auto manufacturer Proton had entered into an agreement with Pakistan’s Al-Haj Group to establish a manufacturing plant in Karachi. Now, a ceremony for the exchange of Licensing and Technical Assistance Agreement of Proton Assembly Project has been held in which more details were revealed.

According to the event’s press release, both the companies were represented by their senior executives. CEO of Proton Holdings Dr Li Chunrong and Al-Haj Group Managing Director Mr Bilal Khan Afridi participated in the event.

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The exchange of document follows the previous announcement by Proton Holdings and Al-Haj Automotive Private Limited to develop a manufacturing facility for Proton vehicles based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was recalled a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony was conducted on the 22nd March 2019, in Islamabad. The ground-breaking was presided by Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan.

The companies revealed that the manufacturing plant will sit on a 55-acre site in the port city of Karachi. Its construction requires an initial investment within USD 30 million. The facility will be ready for production by June 2020 and would have an annual capacity of 25,000 units.

The manufacturing plant would allow Proton with improved access to the growing Pakistan automotive market. The company said as many as 2,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs will be through other areas such as local vendors.

Proton Holdings is a joint venture between DRB Hicom and the Zhejiang Geely Group.

Al-Haj Automotive Private Limited, on the other hand, is a subsidiary of the Al-Haj Group, a conglomerate with diverse business interests such as automotive, oil and gas, logistics and estate businesses. Al-Haj Group has been associated with different Chinese and Korean Automobile companies since 2006 and has established a reputable name with vast experience in the assembly and distribution of automotive products in Pakistan.

Several new auto companies have entered Pakistan’s automotive industry after Auto Development Policy (ADP) 2016-21. The government has awarded incentive-based Greenfield Status to as many as 15 new automobile companies.

Here’s the list of 15 companies that availed Greenfield Status under ADP: Al-Futtaim Automotive Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd, Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd, Kia Lucky Motors Pakistan Ltd, Foton, JW Auto Park (Pvt) Ltd, Regal Auto Mobile Industries (Pvt), United Motors (Pvt) Ltd, Master Motors Ltd, Pak China Motors (Pvt) Limited, Hyundai Nishat Motors (Pvt) Ltd, Khalid Mushtaq Motors (Pvt) Ltd, Topsun Motors and Engineering Services (Pvt) Ltd, Khalid and Khalid Holdings (Ptv) Ltd and Hanteng Motors Company (Pvt) Ltd.

Similarly, old auto companies are investing to revive their nonfunctional units. Dewan Farooque Motors and Ghandhara Nissan Ltd have availed Brownfield Status with their plans to receive an incentive from the government and possibly regain their market share.

One of the famous German auto companies, Volkswagen AG, has collaborated with Premier Motors Limited, a Karachi-based company, to invest $135 million in a bid to make new cars by 2021 and set up an assembly unit in Pakistan.

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