Tag: Mahathir Mohammad

  • Affordable SUV gifted to Imran Khan by ex-Malaysian PM to be launched in Pakistan market

    Affordable SUV gifted to Imran Khan by ex-Malaysian PM to be launched in Pakistan market

    Malaysian auto giant Proton has collaborated with Al-Haj — the makers of FAW automobiles in Pakistan — to launch its crossover SUV X70 by December along with a sedan named Saga.

    According to reports, the said cars, that are actually Chinese manufacturer Geely’s vehicles directly imported and licensed by Proton for the Malaysian market, will be offered in completely built-up (CBU) form in Pakistan.

    The company will start assembling the cars locally in the year 2021.

    X70 is powered by a 1.8 liter turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine that makes 182 horsepower, 285 newton/meters of torque, and comes mated to a 6-speed automatic or a 7-speed DCT gearbox. The vehicle will be available in both Front-Wheel Drive and All-Wheel-Drive forms.

    The car is loaded with features such as an air purifier system, rear air vents, automatic dual-zone climate control, steering wheel switches, tilt, and telescopic adjustment, advanced gauge cluster with an LCD information screen, central door locking with auto-lock, a push-start button and a myriad of other modern features. Given that the X70 is a compact crossover SUV, it will go up against the Kia Sportage and the Hyundai Tucson.

    The X70, back in December 2019, was gifted to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan by former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad.

    The other car, Saga, is a compact sedan that has recently entered its 4th generation. Saga features a 1.3 liter naturally aspirated 4-cylinder petrol engine that makes 94 horsepower, 120 newton/meters of torque and is mated to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed CVT automatic transmission.

    The vehicles will be launched at a relatively lower price for success in the Pakistani market.

  • Imran regrets ditching Kuala Lumpur Summit ‘because of other friends’

    Imran regrets ditching Kuala Lumpur Summit ‘because of other friends’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has regretted not attending December 2019’s Kuala Lumpur Summit in Malaysia, saying there were misconceptions among some friendly countries of Pakistan, which led to him and his team opting out of the moot, Dawn reported Tuesday.

    Addressing a joint press conference following talks with Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Mahathir Mohamad in Putrajaya, the premier said he wanted to share how sad he was for not attending the conference in Kuala Lumpur in the middle of December.

    “Unfortunately, our friends, who are very close to Pakistan as well, felt that somehow the conference was going to divide the ummah. It was clearly a misconception because that was not the purpose of the conference as evident from when the conference took place.”

    In December last year, Pakistan had pulled out of the Kuala Lumpur Summit of some 20 Muslim countries reportedly due to pressure exerted by Saudi Arabia. At the time, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had confirmed that Riyadh and the UAE had concerns about the summit.

  • Muslim world should build its own market, technologies: Malaysian PM at summit skipped by Imran

    Muslim world should build its own market, technologies: Malaysian PM at summit skipped by Imran

    Muslim-majority countries should build their own markets and produce their own technologies to become self-sufficient, Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Mahathir Mohammad has said during the ongoing Kuala Lumpur Summit that was skipped by Pakistan.

    “There are 1.7 billion Muslims. Obviously this is a big market if we decide to source our needs from Muslims and Muslim countries. Then we enrich ourselves,” he said while stressing the importance of technological and industrial progress in national development.

    According to Anadolu Agency, the Malaysian premier said that Muslim countries did not have enough products by themselves and had to source most of their needs from other countries, as a result of which money flowed out.

    “When money flows out, we become poor. But if we source, the things that we need from Muslim countries, then obviously our wealth will stay within the Muslim community, and we become richer,” he said.

    “That is why among the things that should solve problems of Muslims is to build a market and produce the things and source them from each other but it is important we learn how to produce our own things,” he added.

    He underlined that Muslim nations “will forever be playing catch-up” with the rest of the developed world “if we do not start creating and developing our own technologies.”

    “We have no choice but to start working on this,” he said.

    The three-day Kuala Lumpur Summit is ongoing in the Malaysian capital with the attendance of hundreds of government officials and representatives from civil society and business sectors from across the Muslim World.

    While the Malaysian premier’s statements are much similar to those made by his Pakistan counterpart, Imran Khan, Islamabad has pulled out of the conference over concerns it could “divide” the Muslim world.

    Pakistan’s Gulf allies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had earlier expressed reservations over the country joining the summit, following which Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had confirmed that neither he nor PM Imran would be attending the summit.

    “Pakistan pulled out of the summit due to concerns by Saudi Arabia that the meeting could create a new bloc that would rival the existing 57-member state Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),” he had said.