Yanmar, a Japanese agricultural machinery manufacturer, has expressed interest in setting up a factory in Bangladesh to manufacture rice harvesters or combine harvesters. Yanmar will set up the plant in a joint venture with the country's ACI Motors.
The information was shared at a meeting between a delegation of Yanmar and ACI Motors led by Sogo Date, International Business Head of Myanmar, with Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque at the Secretariat on Tuesday morning.
According to the delegation, combine harvesters of Yanmar brand are very popular and in high demand in the country. With this in mind, Yanmar and ACI Motors have taken the initiative to manufacture and assemble combine harvesters locally. International Business Head Sogo Dat said there are initial plans to go into production locally in early 2024.
At the same time, the Agriculture Minister said, the shortage of agricultural workers in the country is becoming evident day by day. Boro paddy harvesters are not available at the moment. In addition, the cost of producing crops in traditional farming methods is much higher and time consuming. Therefore, the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is working on mechanization of agriculture on priority basis. Agricultural machinery is being supplied to farmers at 50% subsidy across the country and 70% subsidy in haor-coastal areas.
He further said that we attach great importance to the manufacture and assembling of agricultural implements locally. I welcome this initiative of Myanmar. All kinds of assistance will be provided to Myanmar for setting up factories in Bangladesh.
The meeting was attended by Ito Sun, International Business Representative of Myanmar, Mitsumi Sun, International Service Representative, and Subrata Ranjan Das, Executive Director of ACI Motors.