PAN Boss Harps On Infrastructure Dev

For the new auto policy
to achieve a huge success, the Managing Director of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd (PAN), Mr Ibrahim Boyi, has called on the Federal Government to upgrade its infrastructure.
Boyi, who made the call while presenting a paper on the theme, “Resuscitating the Nigerian Automotive Industry; Getting it Right” during a symposium organised by the Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recently, said government and other relevant authorities should ensure that the country’s infrastructure were given a face-lift.
According to him, “There is no gain-saying that infrastructure upgrade is paramount for the success of the new auto plan, a condition which the plan recognises, while provisions have been made for improved collaborations among relevant agencies to put this in focus. It should be emphasised that developing infrastructure will remain a continuing process”.
He reiterated that, “This is especially important for a developing economy and improvements cannot be expected to reach world standards, before the commencement of supportive policies to drive growth in the sector”, adding that the new automotive industry development plan was introduced as a bold step and effort to correct most of the bottlenecks within the industry as well as to create a platform for steady actualization of the potentials of the sector.
Today, despite its huge opportunities, value added by the automobiles sub-sector to total manufacturing remains negligible at 0.4 per cent, which the auto policy seeks to address from two fronts.
From existing plants, it seeks to reverse current excess capacity by encouraging increased local assembly and component parts manufacturing under a phased implementation framework”, the PAN boss noted.
He posited that, “At the same time, it also provides the required incentives for international operators to invest in the sector. The guiding philosophy is to gradually move away from the dominant importation of completed assembled ones, domiciling local component value from the linkages of the industry to primary, secondary and tertiary sectors”.