SLACMA says Govt. to support local automotive assembly

Sri Lanka Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association President Dimantha Jayawardena

The Sri Lanka Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association recently announced that the Sri Lanka Government is actively seeking to promote automotive assembly with locally secured components, in order to boost the industry and create better job opportunities. 

The assembly of 100 vehicles will create more than 250 direct jobs and 100 indirect jobs. If 1,000 vehicles are assembled, an average of 2,500 direct jobs and 1,000 indirect jobs will be created, ensuring a solid and confident business environment for the manufacturers. 

With the local vehicle assembly, component manufacturers will have a strong market to sell their products as well as improve product quality. It will also safeguard the interests of local automotive component manufacturers. 

Sharing his views on the progress of this decision, Sri Lanka Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association President Dimantha Jayawardena said: “Automotive components manufactured by our members are of the highest quality and conform to international standards. They are fast gaining recognition as OEM products by leading automotive manufacturers. The Government has offered this industry policy as an incentive to promote the use of at least 30% of the original components from Sri Lankan manufacturers. This policy is monitored by the Ministry of Industry and Supply Chain under Minister Wimal Weerawansa, along with the Ministry of Finance.  SLACMA is also grateful to State Minister of Vehicle Regulation, Passenger Transport Services, Railway Carriages and Automobile Industries Dilum Amunugama for his active support in driving this policy forward.”

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Sri Lanka Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association and the Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association of India (ACMA) back in 2017 has supported the SLACMA in various ways including the possibilities to enhance technical collaborations through joint ventures, receive support and guidance in policy matters, obtain assistance in finding OEM partners and knowledge sharing between both associations. 

Sri Lankan component manufacturing has entered the global supply chain by the technical collaboration between Ideal Auto Seating and MSKH India, a joint venture of Magna Worldwide – the largest automotive component manufacturer in the world. Magna Worldwide has its presence in 28 countries with 169,000 employees and 338 manufacturing plants. 

SLACMA has submitted a 10-year master-plan to the Finance Ministry as a crucial step to take the local assembly industry and component supply to the next level, as they seek quality certification from their regional counterparts to boost growth. 

Currently, the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry and Supply Chain are in the process of obtaining Cabinet approval for the standard operating procedure for local assembly and local auto-component manufacturing. 

“The local automotive component manufacturers find it difficult to export their products as Sri Lanka’s automotive industry as well as the auto-component industry do not have the component classification or the certification authority. We at SLACMA have invited the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to provide these certificates to local automotive component manufacturers so that our members could enter the high potential markets around the world. ARAI is the highest standard research organisation and the certification body in South East Asia,” the SLACMA President said in conclusion.