Cabinet clears policy to promote locally made bikes

The Cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the 'Motorcycle Industry Development Policy-2018,' aiming to expand the local motorcycle industry and reduce dependence on import, reports UNB.

The approval was given at the weekly Cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed reporters after the meeting. In the policy, Shafiul Alam said, a target was set to produce 0.5 million motorcycles by 2021 and 1.0 million by 2027.

At present, there is an opportunity of employment of 0.5 million people in the motorcycle industry but it will go up to 1.5 million in 2027 as per the new policy, he said.

Now the contribution of the motorcycle industry to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is only 0.5 per cent and a target was set in the policy to increase the contribution to 2.5 per cent by 2025, the Cabinet Secretary said.

Besides, the draft of Bangladesh Shishu Academy Bill-2018 got the cabinet's final nod, he added.

The draft of Bangladesh Engineering Research Council Bill-2018 was placed before the Cabinet for its approval in principle but it formed a four-member committee, headed by Local Government, Rural Development and Cooper-atives (LGRD) Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, to examine the draft bill further.