Mr. Dimantha Jayawardena

The Sri Lanka Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association (SLACMA) 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 1000 vehicles are assembled, an average of 2500 direct jobs and 1000 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, the association said in a media release. 

Sharing his views on the progress of this decision, SLACMA 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 per cent of the original components from Sri Lankan manufacturers.”
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the SLACMA 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. 
The Sri Lankan component manufacturers have 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 is in the process of obtaining cabinet approval for the Standard Operating Procedure for local assembly and local auto-component manufacturing.