Proton restructuring can revive ASEAN car project

He said for the ASEAN Car project to be materialised, Proton would need to get the agreement of all ASEAN countries.

The ministry, which oversees the automotive industry in the country, planned to start ''conversation'' with ASEAN members to bring the project to fruition.

"It is a good concept but the detail needs to be worked out. It requires a lot of cooperation and meetings," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2017 (KMF 2017) here today.

He said among the issues that needed to be ironed out with other ASEAN members included local content, vendors and component origin.

Mustapa, however, is optimistic the project could take off in five years.

"Five years seems reasonable to kick start the project," he added.

In February 2015, Proton signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia's PT Adiputra Citra Lestari to further "business opportunities between both companies" in developing and manufacturing the ASEAN Car.

The project, however, stalled as Proton was undergoing a restructuring exercise and Mustapa said: "Proton wasn't ready at that time."

Yesterday, at an entrepreneurs and career carnival, Mustapa said newly appointed Proton Chief Executive Officer Li Chunrong could help spur the national automaker's global foray.