Alba to reach European markets

Alba Group of Companies, the only company to manufacture 100 percent Sri Lankan made three wheelers are now hoping to expand their wings to England. Chairman /CEO of Alba Group of Companies M.Y.M Nassar said that they have sent three vehicles to England as samples and will receive an order for 10 vehicles next month. This is the first time that locally made three wheelers are to be introduced to the European market.

"We have started to manufacture solar power battery controlled three wheelers in Sri Lanka. Soon we hope to introduce these solar powered three wheelers to the local market. This too would be another made in Sri Lanka product. Manufacturing diesel three wheelers is another new venture by the Alba group for which technical assistance has been sought with an Italian company.

"We have stared a joint venture with a Malaysian company to manufacture motorbikes in Sri Lanka and have introduced them to the market. Through this project we hope to train our employees on the manufacturing process," Nassar added.

Nassar came from humble beginnings and his first venture was setting up the Alba video center in 1983 after working for an American Company in Saudi Arabia for seven years.

"Those days my aunt bought a three wheeler and I went to India frequently to search for spare parts for the three wheeler. I too imported three wheel spare parts and local three wheeler owners came to us looking for spare parts," he said.

When business was picking up Nassar went to India to meet three wheeler spare parts manufacturers and gain first hand information on the manufacture of these products. This resulted the birth of Alba Auto Traders, a company, which was set up to import three wheeler spare parts to Sri Lanka. Though the import business was successful but he was not satisfied. "Although I had good returns from the business I knew that Sri Lanka is losing billions inforeign exchange through these kind of imports," Nassar said.

This was how the brainwave to manufacture a 100 percent local three wheeler came to his mind. This idea took him four to five years to put into practice. He went to countries like India and Thailand to learn more about the machinery and manufacturing process of spare parts. Step by step he imported all the necessary equipment and machinery to manufacture spare parts. As a result of this in 2001, he first started manufacturing for the local market.

Nassar then had a vision of manufacturing a three wheeler with Sri Lankan technology and within three months was able to manufacture a complete three wheeler. In April 2002, he exhibited it at the Youth Center in Maharagama and had a good response from the public.

In the beginning Nassar had orders to manufacture only four vehicles.

"However due to quality, style and innovations, the demand for Alba has increased and there is a 'waiting list'.

To date they have manufactured over 1,000 for the local market. At present Alba also supplies three wheelers for the National Lotteries Board, National Development Lotteries Board and various Ministries. There is a good demand for Alba three wheelers and it is available for nearly Rs. 50,000 less than the imported brands.

Alba three wheelers have special features like adjustable seat, single windscreen, self-starting system, crystal head lights and petrol meter which are in demand.

Today there are 4,000 three wheelers sold in the market per year but the market needs 6,000 vehicles. Company provides nearly 100 three wheelers for the local market. This is not enough for meet the demand. We would like to join with a local investor to increase our production, he said.

"Today only 20% of Sri Lankans look for Lankan made products. The rest depend on imported items. We need to change this concept and need to brainwash them to depend on our own products to save foreign exchange. Each year Sri Lanka spends Rs. 1,200 million to import three wheelers," he said.

The company has also planned to commence its business in West Indies. "There are many islands in West Indies and three wheelers will be an ideal and economical transport solution for them. End of this month we will be sending three vehicles to West Indies as samples," Nassar said.

"In any country the Government should assist entrepreneurs and take care of them. Government is just like a parent for the entrepreneur.

We need some tax benefits and low interest credit. "The Government should provide necessary lands, which are convenient for entrepreneurs," he said. New investors should try to invest on locally manufactured products to save foreign exchange to the country, were his parting words.