State Minister for Finance Dr. Ranjith Siambalapitiya says that 44,430 vehicles have been released to the market during the period when import restrictions were imposed.
Among them are 38,144 motorcycles and 6,286 cars, the minister points out. This information was revealed in a discussion held at the Ministry of Finance with a group of local vehicle manufacturers.
Although restrictions have been imposed on the import of vehicles, the assembly and sale of parts is still going on. Representatives of many domestic vehicle manufacturing companies were present for this discussion and there was an in-depth discussion about granting permission for vehicle imports. They mentioned that while removing import restrictions, they should also focus on their local vehicles assembly businesses.
They said that these imposition of ban on imports has been a stimulus to the local vehicles manufacturing and said that starting a country’s production of vehicles is a long-term process. Minister Siambalapitiya mentioned that the government is constantly supporting the strengthening of local businesses.
