DRB-HICOM-Volkswagen JVs Can Transform Pekan Into World-Class Automotive Hub, Says PM Najib

PEKAN (Pahang, Malaysia), March 12 (Bernama) -- Various joint ventures between DRB-HICOM Bhd and Germany-based Volkswagen will transform Pekan into a world-class automotive hub, Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Tun Razak said Sunday. Pekan is a royal town located at east coast of Malaysian state Pahang Darul Makmur. He said the collaborations have yielded immense benefits for the locals directly and indirectly, particularly creating numerous job opportunities, thus increasing their income. "I'm confident the various joint ventures between the two companies will propel Pekan to become a well-known automotive hub in the world, especially in car assembling work, manufacturing automotive components and conducting research and development in the automotive sector," he said when launching the assembling of the first batch of completely knocked down Volkswagen Passat at the DRB-HICOM Automotive Complex here. Najib (third from left) said the tie-ups, established since December 2010, had created 3,300 jobs to date for the people in Pekan. "The tie-ups have brought in RM1 billion (US$1=RM3.01) investment in four years. The investments will be a major contributor to the local economy," said Najib. The prime minister said the launch of the completely knocked down assembling of Volkswagen Passat Sunday marked an important history in the country's automotive industry. Najib said he hoped this collaboration would be an example, signifying a successful tie-up between a local company and a foreign car maker. He said the tie-up would help uplift the domestic automotive industry to a higher level in tandem with the government's plan to transform Malaysia into one of the leaders of the regional automotive hub. "I was informed that a first batch of 300 units of Volkswagen Passat have been assembled at the complex in Pekan in accordance with the stringent quality standard set by DRB-HICOM and Volkswagen. "I was also informed that several other volkswagen models such as Polo and Jetta will be assembled here soon. I hope this will be a reality," said Najib, who test-drove a Volkswagen Passat, witnessed by some 1,000 attendees. He gave a thumbs-up for the car, saying "the car is of very good quality." Najib said besides taking shape as an automotive hub, Pekan is also being developed as part of a cluster of towns, encompassing Kuantan, Gambang and Gebeng in the likes of major cities like Johor Baharu, Penang and Klang Valley. He said the government has made various investments to upgrade infrastructure facilities to woo more investments to Pekan. The Pekan Automotive Park, for instance, would become the catalyst to the government's plan to attract RM4.5 billion investment, which would create 10,580 jobs, and would contribute RM12 billion to the National Gross Domestic Product by 2015, he said. The prime minister also urged the automotive industry to increase their competitive edge and conduct a restructuring exercise to boost car production on a big scale. "When the production volume reaches an appropriate level, it will pave the way for increased investment flow, quality workforce and significant progress in research and development initiatives," he added. Present at the launch were Chief Minister Adnan Yaakob (fourth from left), DRB-HICOM Group Chairman Syed Mohamad Syed Murtaza (second from left) and DRB-HICOM Group Managing Director Mohd Khamil Jamil (left). (photoBERNAMA) MALAYSIA