Pakistan plans to double its defence exports in the near future, a leading defence weekly reported on Wednesday.
Pakistan's strategy is to focus on building Al-Khalid and Al-Zarrar main battle tanks and Mushshak trainer aircraft and earn enough from exporting them to match its defence imports, Jane's Defence Weekly said in its latest issue quoting country's top defence industry officials.
"Our products have started to mature... Today there are things that we can offer that can really interest the whole world," Air Marshal Zahid Anis (Retd), Pakistan's secretary for defence production, told the weekly.
"We are sustaining US $100 million now and that's good considering we're a new entrant into the market," Major General Syed Ali Hamid, director general of Defence Export Promotion Organisation, which co-ordinates export activities of Pakistan's defence manufacturers, said.
"But if we sell one or two of the big-ticket items, say $1 billion over five or six years, then you're looking at $200 or $300 million a year, which is still just a fraction of the global defence market. But my target is, whatever our import bill is, if we can match our exports to that then I'll be satisfied," he said.
Pakistan's defence exports, currently amounting to about $100 million a year should increase dramatically when the country starts to export Al-Khalid tank, which could happen in the next couple of years.
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