Micro Holdings steps in to its third decade, stressing need for state patronage for auto industry
View(s):While denying any affiliations with the Rajapaksa family for special favours or financial support, the top management of Micro Holdings Pvt Ltd says that successive governments and state officials do not understand the value of encouraging automobile indstry as a key contributor to improve the country’s economy.
Micro founder Dr. Lawrence Perera explains an aspect of the assembly process to the Korean Ambassador
The company’s market share has come down from 9 per cent to 4 percent in 2013 and 2014 during the Rajapaksa regime, Dr. Lawrence Perera, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Micro Holdings said, adding that if there were any connections with the former government, then this would have been the other way round.
He was expressing these views to the Business Times on the sidelines of a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of Micro Holdings at its main hall at the modern vehicle assembly plant located in the Board of Investment export processing zone in Polgahawela this week.
Governments should understand that cars are not a luxury but a necessity and classifying all cars under one tax category is unfair, he said noting that high taxes of over 250 per cent on cars are unsustainable and that this has raised Sri Lankan vehicle prices to the highest in the region.
Industries unfortunately are taxed heavily, before they can stand on their feet with most having to close down in the past due to lack of support from governments and bureaucratic red tape of state officials, he revealed. Citing an example, he noted that business tycoon, the late Upali Wijewardena started the assembly of UMC Mazda and Upali Fiat in Sri Lanka 48 years ago but it was not successful due to inconsistent policies of the then government and the lack of state support.
If the government backed him at that time, Sri Lanka today would have been a leading manufacturer of automobiles like South Korea, he added. “Now Sri Lanka will have to model itself along the lines of South Korea, a country which commenced assembling cars years ago. Despite having to import all the required raw materials it has built itself into the third-largest vehicle manufacturer in the world,” he pointed out.
The company has a work force of 850 youths and they are exposed to the latest technology in automobile and other engineering related fields, by providing them with training in South Korea and China in addition to on the spot training in Sri Lanka, he disclosed.
Addressing the company’s 20th anniversary ceremony, he said “The value of this company is not for me or Micro. The value of this company is for the country”. He said Micro trains and employs a large number of youth most of whom would have become three wheeler drivers or bus conductors without such employment, due to inadequate placements in local universities.
Most of these youths after successful training are competent to find employment in countries like Australia and the Middle East, he revealed.
Micro also has training partnerships with KOIKA and German tech where trainees are given the opportunity for in plant training.
Sri Lanka could take South Korea as an example and develop the country’s automobile industry for exports, Korea’s Ambassador in Sri Lanka Won-Sam Chang said adding that Micro has taken a right step towards this end.
Micro Holdings was awarded the assembly, sales, and after-sales service rights for the full range of SsangYong in 2006.
The company holds dealership licences for the Lamborghini super cars, Renault and Sino trucks as well as Yutong and Higher luxury buses. It also exports locally-assembled automobiles to Nepal, Bangladesh and Malaysia.
The official partnership launch of Micro Holdings and French-based motor lubricant company Motul also took place at the 20th anniversary ceremony.