Minister of Trade, Industry & Investment Olusegun Aganga The Federal Government said in Abuja on Thursday that the new automobile policy was not aimed at immediate ban on the importation of fairly used vehicles.<\/p>\n
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, made this explanation at a news conference on the content of the new automotive plan.<\/p>\n
Aganga said the policy would, instead, focus on promoting investments in affordable made-in-Nigeria vehicles that will in future minimise their importation.<\/p>\n
The new Automobile Industrial Policy Development was approved on Wednesday by the Federal Executive Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis policy will not result in the banning of the importation of vehicles in Nigeria but focus on promoting investments in affordable made-in-Nigeria vehicles that will in future minimise the importation of vehicles\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Aganga, who said phasing out second hand vehicles, popularly known as ‘tokunbo’, was a gradual process.<\/p>\n
He said what government had done was to raise tariff on importation with a view to discouraging the influx of used vehicles into the country while also encouraging local manufacturing.<\/p>\n
According to him, no responsible government would ban importation of used cars without putting in place viable alternatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe importation of tokunbo cars will not be a major threat to the plan. Production of vehicles is in stages and involves a long process.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do not remove a thing without providing a viable alternative\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
The Director General, National Automotive Council, Mr Aminu Jalal, said the policy would help to open up the industry to many international auto manufacturers.<\/p>\n
He said Toyota, Nissan, Renault and GM have all indicated keen interest to invest in Nigeria following the articulation of a comprehensive automotive development plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese companies are now conducting feasibility studies on assembling vehicles in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe elements of the plan, which will ensure competitiveness and increased productivity of the sector, are: industrial infrastructure improvement, skill development, standards, investment promotion, market development and anti-smuggling measures.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The Chief Executive Officer of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Mr Ibrahim Boyi, commended the Federal Government for the initiative.<\/p>\n
He urged the government to map out strategies for the gradual banning of importation of used vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of Trade, Industry & Investment Olusegun Aganga The Federal Government said in Abuja on Thursday that the new automobile policy was not aimed at immediate ban on the importation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n