GANSU: China's Geely Holdings Group and DRB-HICOM Bhd will finalise Proton Holdings Bhd’s business plan by the end of the month.
In disclosing this, Geely chairman Li Shufu said Malaysia and China would begin to embark on a new journey in the local automotive industry.
“By end of this month, we will close the (Proton) deal to embark on a new journey," Li said during his keynote speech address in conjunction with 2017 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road here today.
"The recent automobile cooperation between China and Malaysia indicates that Geely is also echoing China's One Belt and One Road initiative (BRI) to share benefits with other countries.
"In the context of BRI, going global is important and the integration is the key (which means) understanding people's needs and to include corporate culture," he added.
In June, Geely had inked a definitive agreement with DRB-HICOM to buy a 49.9 per cent stake in the national car manufacturer for RM460.3 million.
It was reported that of the amount, RM170 million would be paid in cash, while the remaining RM290 million as a transfer of Geely’s Boyue sports utility vehicle (SUV) platform to Proton.
The forum, organised by China's main newspaper People's Daily, was attended by over 300 media organisations from 127 countries to share and exchange ideas on BRI.
Earlier, People’s Daily president Yang Zhenwu said China would continue to strengthen cooperation among domestic and international media on BRI.
He added that this includes releasing a blue paper on Belt and Road media cooperation, launching an international research centre and joint interview mechanism, establishing a cooperation union for Belt and Road regional cooperation, setting up a culture research institute, and publishing the English version of the book series Ode to Silk Road.
In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to jointly build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road for win-win situation especially in terms of economic growth.