English

13 October 2017

VOICE OF MSWG

POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN PROTON

Interesting and possibly even exciting developments at national carmaker Proton, with the appointment of its new board, headlined by the naming of Li Chunrong as the new CEO and the presence of Winfried Vahland, former chairman and CEO of Skoda.

Li’s presence is interesting because it represents a major shift in approach for Malaysia in terms of the CEO’s demographic and nationality (historically speaking) and its new ASEAN focus.

Recent news has been all about the China carmaker’s major role in Proton, including the integration of Geely powertrains into Proton products (hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric), the launching of at least one new model annually and overall technology and component transfer, including transmissions -- all without additional investment from Proton -- thus explaining Li’s position as No. 1.

06 October 2017

VOICE OF MSWG

The meeting on the proposed early termination of the Golden Palm Growers Scheme (“the Scheme”) was held on 2 October 2017 as scheduled. MSWG’s representatives attended the meeting as proxies.

The meeting commenced with nomination of the Chairman of the Meeting (“the Chairman”). Two candidates were nominated to chair the meeting, one was a Grower and the other was the Trustee of the Scheme. The Growers objected strongly to the nomination of the Trustee as Chairman as they were of the view that the Trustee might not play an effective role to look after their interests. Pressured by the Growers, the Trustee declined the nomination. The meeting was chaired by the nominated Grower. Ironically and surprisingly, the Growers seemed to have lost trust in the Trustee who was appointed to protect the interests of the Growers under the Scheme.

The Chairman convened the meeting and invited the Monitoring Accountant appointed by the Management Company (MC) to oversee the closure of the Scheme, to make his presentation which encompassed the 12-month Cash Flow Projection of the Scheme (“the Projection”), explanations on the resolutions and consequences of the winding-up of the Scheme in the event neither resolution were to be passed.