Myanmar takes measures to remove locally-manufactured vehicles running on roads

YANGON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Myanmar regional transport authorities are taking measures to remove vehicles manufactured by local companies in industrial zones in the country, setting to hand them in to the authorities starting this week, official media reported Wednesday.

These locally-produced vehicles are blamed for having low quality which pose danger to road safety.

These vehicles include cars produced from Mandalay Industrial Zone, jeeps from Taunggyi Aye Thaya, Monywa, Yenangyoung and Yangon Industrial Zones, according to Mandalay Region Directorate of Road Transport.

It is estimated that 12,000 vehicles, manufactured in various industrial zones, are used across the nation, of which 3,000 are in northern Mandalay region.

In return for handing over the locally-manufactured vehicles, the directorate said it will allow the import of vehicles costing less than 15,000 U.S. dollars and these imported vehicles are to be levied with a 20-percent tax exemption.

Myanmar has announced tax-cut on imported cars in the present fiscal year of 2014-15 in a bid to further bring down car prices.

Due to restrictions on imported cars in the past, car prices are extremely high.

Since September 2011, Myanmar has laid down a program to substitute private-owned vehicles of more than four decades of age with new ones, canceling the validity of such registered vehicles which amounted to over 55,000, according to available figures.

According to the Department of Road Transport Administration, there was a total of 4.23 million registered motor vehicles as of the end of March 2014, of which 434,169 are passenger cars while 124,597 are trucks, 22,151 buses, 3.59 million motorcycles and 61,000 56,000 others.

source: Global Post

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140716/myanmar-takes-measures-remove-locally-manufactured-vehicles-