Pakistan Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers Association (Paapam) has urged the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to declare auto parts as special export category for giving subsidy in participating cost of fairs and exhibitions with the objective of bringing maximum number of Pakistani companies in export.
Paapam Chairman Syed Nabeel Hashmi, in a letter to the Chairman EPB, has said that over the last few years, Pakistan's export have increased significantly with the EPB having an instrumental role in this raise.
In auto parts sector, our exports have mainly being confined to the initial thrust that was brought about by EPB with the companies, which have benefited during this period with high promotional support from the EPB.
The Association now seeks to increase this number to 80 or even more from the current 15 to 20 companies, which should be in the export, pipeline.
With the increase in number of our companies, our auto parts exports would register a handsome increase in a very short time, Nabeel further wrote.
Having taken members into confidence and also noting the competence level of the companies to export, the Association also believes that as an industry we need to pull our members into the export arena if we need to bench mark ourselves in the post WTO scenario.
Although flushed with local orders, we do feel highly uncomfortable for the future. Hence, our desire to launch as many companies into the international market is very high, he added.
Nabeel claimed that globally the engineering sector takes up around 62 percent of the world trade, for Pakistan it constitutes only four percent. While textile is only six percent of the world trade but regretted that EPB's more concentration is on textile sector, which must be corrected.
In order to support this imbalance, Paapam has already submitted an exhibition plan for the current year 2004 for five fairs.
'We have seen that during the last five years international participation of various countries including China, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Turkey and Indonesia have increased between 40 to 200 percent.
India in the last AUTOMECHANIKA 2002 increased its presence from 82 companies to 268 companies. No doubt their government were actively supporting their participation to the extent of 100 percent also, he claimed.
He requested the EPB to subsidise/support the exhibitors of foreign exhibitions under a special formula.