doing business in myanmar – what you need to know as a singaporean
Japanese car maker Suzuki Motor Corporation will temporarily close its manufacturing facilities in Yangon from December 1.
With initial vehicle registrations suspended since September to avoid physical crowds at the Road Transport Administration Department’s (RTAD) offices, car sales have also stalled, and Suzuki Thilawa Motor Co. Ltd and Suzuki Myanmar Motor Co. Ltd will temporarily stop assembling vehicles for the time being.
“The RTAD offices have closed for a long time and new cars cannot be delivered to those who have purchased them as the RTAD offices are closed for registrations.
Meanwhile, there is also no space to store additional cars at the Thilawa plant even if we keep manufacturing, so the company will temporarily close its assembly plants,” said U Kyi Thar Han, chair of Suzuki KL Seven, a Suzuki car dealer.
Suzuki has two facilities in Yangon at the Thilawa Special Economic Zone and South Dagon Industrial Zone which are equipped to assemble cars on a semi-knocked down basis. It saw a spike in the number of purchases for its locally assembled cars this year.
In March, Suzuki announced that it will construct a new automobile plant that will conduct welding, painting, and assembly of cars. The Japanese automaker also said that it plans to upgrade its operations in Myanmar to assembling completely knocked down vehicles in Thilawa.
The company said it plans to invest an estimated ¥12 billion (K150 trillion) to build the new facility, which is projected to have an annual production capacity of 40,000 units.
Last week, the RTAD announced plans to reopen its initial vehicle registration services electronically from December 1 onwards. Registrations can be done at some RTAD offices in Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay,” said U Myo Kyaw Aung, an RTAD director.
Suzuki said it produced 13,300 units in 2019, up 125pc year-on-year, and sold 13,206 units, up 128pc over the same period. It had a market share of 60.3 percent in Myanmar.
Source : Myanmar Times
