Staff Reporter :
The manufacturers of the country’s automobile industry on Sunday demanded adequate policy support, tax benefits to boost the sector.
They made the call while speaking at a webinar titled “Automobile Industry Development: Present Situation & Future Prospects.” The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) organised the webinar.
Speaking at the webinar, Rizwan Rahman, President of the DCCI, said that the sector is mainly dominated by imported reconditioned and new vehicles mostly from Japan, China, India, Europe and USA.
The local and foreign investors are now showing interests to invest in the industry considering the growing demand, he said.
Despite the absence of long-term policy support, inconsistent tax structure, lack of domestic source of raw materials, relevant skilled human resources and inadequate backward linkage, the industry is growing faster in the country, he said.
Keeping in mind, a long-term policy and a minimum 5-10 years sustaining tariff policy are needed to support the assembling and manufacturing of vehicles, he said.
Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh Ito Naoki said Bangladesh has a strong possibility to establish its own local automobile industry. When we talk about export diversification, the automobile, light engineering and agriculture-based sector can play a vital role, he said.
Informing Japanese Mitsubishi Motors has showed interest to invest in Bangladesh, he said, “Mitsubishi and Ministry of Industries came to an agreement last month to sign a MoU to conduct joint feasibility study on the viability of investment.” “It will create technology transfer and employment opportunities for Bangladesh,” he added.
He also urged for policy support, tax benefits and incentives to grow the industry.
Taskeen Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director of the IFAD Group, said that the
market size of motorcycle industry went to a new height as the total investment in this sector stands at Tk 8000 crore contributing 0.5 per cent to the GDP now.
Whereas, reconditioned car constitutes 50 per cent of the total car market, on the other hand, 45 per cent are used and only 5 per cent are brand new, he added.
Engr Syed Imtiaz Ahmed, President of Signal Stream Inc, Canada, said that if Bangladesh can focus on manufacturing electronic control units (ECU) in the country that are massively used by car and other vehicles manufacturers then Bangladesh can be able to grab a portion of the world automobile industry very soon.
Abdul Haque, President of the BARVIDA said that the taxation policy should be industry friendly as well as the industry needs more consistent policy support.
Urging the private sector and foreign investors to set up spare parts and tools manufacturing unit in the EZs, Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Industries Minister of the Bangladesh, said, “The purchasing power of Bangladeshi people is increasing day by day and the government is relentlessly working for the industrialization of the country.”
If needed a comprehensive policy will be pursued especially for this industry, he added.
