Proton to relaunch its models in Chile this Saturday

Proton Holdings Bhd is set to re-enter the Chilean market with the relaunch of its models here this Saturday after almost a two-decade hiatus.

Malaysian Ambassador to Chile Datuk Dr Mohamad Rameez Yahaya said Proton will bring 1,000 units of selected models into the market and expects to generate RM68 million in sales.

"This indicates that Malaysia-Chile relations continue to grow stronger," he said in his address at the Seminar on Business Opportunities with Malaysia, organised by the Malaysian External Trade and Development Corporation (Matrade) here on Monday.

Mohamad Rameez said Chile is the only Latin America country to have signed a free trade agreement with Malaysia which makes the country an even more important trade partner for Malaysian companies planning to venture into the continent.

Speaking to Bernama later, Mohamad Rameez said Proton had appointed Andes Motor, a member of Kaufman Group, as its distributor here.

Kaufman Group is the top car distributor in Latin America.

On March 1, Proton announced that it would re-enter the Chilean market this year after its last exports of the Proton Wira in 1998.

It would begin with the sales launch of the Proton Preve and Exora in May, followed by the Proton Saga in November 2016.

On trade prospects between the two nations, Mohamad Rameez said bilateral trade between Malaysia and Chile is expected to grow further as both are members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

"There will be more opportunities for either side to explore, and Chile will remain as one of the Malaysia's top trading nations in Latin America as it is the most stable country in terms of politics, economic freedom, transparency and competitiveness," he said.

Mohamad Rameez also expressed his commitment to bringing more Chilean entrepreneurs to Malaysia and ASEAN.

"For example, last week I had a meeting with the owners of SUGAL, a tomato and fruit paste manufacturer here, who told me that they were going to Malaysia on June 1 to seek out business opportunities," he said.

The seminar was held in conjunction with Matrade's Trade and Investment Mission to Chile, led by Strategic Planning Senior Director Wan Latiff Wan Musa.

Also present at the seminar were President of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce Peter Hill and Matrade Trade Commissioner in Santiago Noor Ezzwanee Ahmad.

The 12-member delegation is on a 14-day mission from May 14 to three countries, namely Peru, Mexico and Chile.