Sri Lanka's Minister of Finance and Media Managala Samaraweera recently revealed that the first batch of electric three wheelers manufactured in Sri Lanka will be ready by 2020. In an official post on his Facebook profile Minister Samaraweera notes that with more than 1 million three-wheeler drivers in Sri Lanka, the three-wheeler industry is indeed a major sector of the country.
According to him in the 2018 budget, government introduced the ‘tourist friendly tuk-tuk’ concept in collaboration with the hospitality industry, and such programme provides for existing three-wheeler drivers to register with the SLTDA so that a three-wheeler would not only be a mode of transportation, but the driver to serve as a local tourist-guide as well.
He further noted that the implementation is progressing well and thus far 589 drivers have undergone training.
The introduction of electric three-wheelers to this industry is another important new policy by the current government and following is the Minister's Full Statement.
