Malaysia’s car brand, Proton, is preparing to send a delegation of technical specialists to Cairo in April 2016 to finalise the launch of a large-scale car-manufacturing project, following a preliminary visit earlier in February. The company plans to begin with an initial capacity of 100,000 cars annually and aims to use Egypt as a hub to export to the African market, said Egyptian Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, Salah Elwassimy. Proton also plans to maximise the Egyptian component ratio in its vehicles to more than 40%, to be classified as manufacturing rather than assembly. Proton’s local agent, Ezz Elarab Automotive, stated that the Malaysian firm is yet to finalise its decision to manufacture in Egypt, which will depend on launching a government strategy for the automotive industry that incentivises investment. (Daily News Egypt)