Sri Lanka to assemble vans

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) granted investment approval to W.T.L. Automobiles (Pvt) Ltd, for a project to assemble motor vehicles for the local market.

W.T.L. Automobiles (Pvt) Ltd., signed the agreement to assemble vans in the same class as the Hiace. The vehicles assembled in Sri Lanka will be sold under the trade name WTL. The venture will utilize parts imported from China as well as parts manufactured locally in the assembling process. Merenchige said “The company will offer new vehicles at a price less than 70 per cent of brand new vehicles and 40 per cent less than reconditioned vehicles”.

W.T.L. Automobile has successfully assembled a sample WTL van and has had successful test runs. Construction of the assembling plant will start immediately and the company will commence commercial operations in six months.

Merenchige said, “There is a high demand for locally assembled vehicles due to the high price of imported brand new and reconditioned vehicles”. The venture hopes to assemble 1,000 vans annually and expand according to the demand.

The plant will be semi-automated and the equipment will be imported from China. The Director said that they will use a semi-automated process to utilize the skilled labour available and to generate more employment opportunities.

This project with an investment of Rs. 216 million will generate 50 employment opportunities in the automobile industry. The vehicle assembling plant of company will be in the Mirijjawila Industrial Park in Hambantota. The Directors of the company Asiri Merenchige and Indika Merenchige signed the agreement on behalf of the company.

Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion and Mass Media and Information Anura Priyadarshana Yapa presented the BOI Certificate of Registrations to Director, W.T.L. Automobiles (Pvt) Ltd. Asiri Dayan Merenchige and Chairman/ Director General Dhammika Perera signed the agreement on behalf of the BOI.