AMW diversifies into leisure boat building
View(s):The Associated Motorways Group (AMW) has plans to set up a marine building facility targeting the leisure boat building industry, officials said.
“We will be setting up two leisure boat building facilities by next year,” Len Hunt, Group Director – Automotive of Dubai based Al Futtaim Group, the automotive, retail, electronics and financial services conglomerate based in Dubai and which is the owning company of AMW, told the Business Times.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Business Forum, Mr. Hunt said the plans are to set up a facility in Moratuwa and also Bentota. Samantha Rajapaksha, CEO AMW said that this business line is a good fit for the company as AMW is already supplying outbound motors for the fishing boat industry.
He said AMW also opened a central vehicle assembling facility in Sedawatte recently. He added that in January their flagship Yamaha store will be opened. Mr. Hunt, visibly upbeat about being able to get to the AMW office in Colombo in 15 minutes from the Bandaranaike International Airport on the new expressway said that Al Futtaim Group, which has got the franchise in Dubai for the Hertz Corporation, the largest car rental brand in the world, is also looking at car rentals for the tourism and selected industries in Sri Lanka. “That is definitely a new growth area which we want to explore,” he added.
He said that while the AMW investment hasn’t been a particularly ‘smooth’ one it is a ‘strategic; business for them – especially in the light of the peace dividend in the country. “This is a strategic investment as we look to grow our brands on the automotive side,” he said.
Mr. Hunt said that Sri Lanka is an attractive destination for Al-Futtaim, given its potential in various areas of business.
Mr. Rajapaksha said that the company is doing a feasibility study on the setting up the vehicle assembly plant by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.