Prime Minister directs EDB to consult all stakeholders: diversification of engineering sector

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday directed the Engineering Development Board (EDB) to consult all stakeholders while taking decisions about development and diversification of the engineering sector.
Presiding over a meeting to review the EDB performance, he said that all decisions about development and diversification of engineering sector should be taken in consultation with all stakeholders, including relevant government departments, manufacturers and vendors.
He said that steps taken by the government had paved the way for a dynamic engineering sector in the country by facilitating capacity expansion and competitive production.
He said that the government was also encouraging local production and technology upgradation both for import substitution and export enhancement. "Pakistan is fast becoming a regional hub for production and trade activities because of its geo-strategic location, availability of skilled labour and the business friendly policies of the government," he added.
The Prime Minister said the engineering sector should focus on modernisation, innovative technologies and research and development activities to improve the quality and competitiveness of the locally manufactured products. Earlier, the EDB made a presentation on its performance and submitted proposals to expand and further promote engineering sector.
The Prime Minister was informed that the economic recovery of the country had, among other things, led to increased demand in the auto industry, which is being met through enhanced production.
The market for cars has expanded to 200,000 units. Local production of cars has gone up to 160,000 in 2006 from 80,000 being manufactured in 1999, and Pakistan, which was manufacturing 90,000 motorcycles in 1999, is producing 650,000 motorcycles in 2006. During last year, the automobile sector showed growth of 30 percent. Several parts manufacturing companies have set up their plants in Pakistan, the Prime Minister said.
He was informed that expansion in auto industry had led to a substantial increase in employment generation and presently 1,90,000 people are employed in it.
The meeting was attended among others by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister and senior officials and representatives of EDB.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Association of Pakistan Motorcycle Assemblers (APMA) called on EDB CEO Imtiaz Rastgar and said that local vendors industry did not have enough capacity to bridge the demand-supply gap.
The motorcycle industry in the country has grown rapidly with 0.7 million production in 2005-06, and is expected to cross one million mark by 2010, said the delegation, adding that the increase in the volume had compelled the vendor industry to increase parts production manifold as it is not meeting the demand of OEMs.
They said that crank case, crankshaft, transmission, shaft rocker arm, spindle, complete kick-starter, spindle gear and spindle cam chain, guide sprocket were in short supply as the production capacities of vendors for these parts are very low. The gap between supply and demand is met by import. The situation can be judged from the fact that only two companies are in the business and their production capacity is approximately 6000 sets per month, which is far less than the demand.