Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the launching of the Proton Wira with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia

[Delivered at the Philippine Trade Training Center, Roxas Boulevard, Manila, January 28, 1995]

The first ASEAN car

TONIGHT, as we launch the Proton Wira, we again demonstrate to the world that cooperation among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has taken firm root, and that this cooperation brings concrete benefits and advances the goals of our regional community.

For the Proton is indisputably the first ASEAN car. It is a product of the close partnership between the Philippines and Malaysia.

Our two nations, in sincere and dedicated efforts to enliven the spirit of ASEAN brotherhood and mutual assistance, have combined their human, financial, natural and technology resources to manufacture the Proton in the Philippines.

Philippine-Malaysian collaboration

In the Proton we see the fulfillment of a shared commitment that had its beginning when I visited Malaysia at the start of my term.

This was concretized by an agreement made by the Philippines and Malaysia during Prime Minister Mahathir’s State visit to the Philippines just 12 months ago, to produce the Proton cars in the Philippines under the ASEAN Industrial Joint Venture Program. We reaffirmed this pledge in September 1994, when Prime Minister Mahatir and I met once more, at the world economic summit in Singapore.

All in all, it took two years of negotiations between our governments, coupled with hard work among the private industrialists in our two countries involved in the project, to bring us to this moment.

We have proved that economic partnership between our nations can bring mutual benefits, more so when we enlist, rely upon and place unreserved trust in the participation of the private sector.

A boost to the automotive industry

Proton Pilipinas will give the Philippine automotive industry a big lift. It will make possible the first completely built car export from the Philippines, plus major ancillary industries that will produce engines, transmissions and automotive components.

The Proton plant will also open new avenues for livelihood and job opportunities that will benefit the people of Pangasinan, where the plant will be located.

And the establishment of Proton operations in our country will no doubt help expand our industrial capabilities and brighten Philippine modernization prospects.

On behalf of our Government and people therefore, I would like to thank His Excellency, Prime Minister Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for opening this opportunity for us to embark on this promising endeavor.

Together with other projects in power generation, tourism, banking, steel manufacture, telecommunications, roads and water supply that showcase and build on Philippine-Malaysian cooperation, this undertaking reaffirms our close economic collaboration.

It is a testimony to ASEAN unity, ASEAN cooperation and ASEAN pride.