Pakistan Foundry Association (PFA) will hold the First International Foundry Congress and Exhibition at a local hotel from Tuesday, in collaboration with Engineering Development Board (EDB). Delegates from United Kingdom, Iran, Turkey, India, China, Japan, Germany and the host Pakistan will attend the two-day event.
According to PFA sources, the event will help make the Pakistan foundry sector familiar with advancements in the field at the international level. PFA has already joined the World Foundry Association (WFA).
Sources said the IFCE-2006 would act as a catalyst to research development and technology upgradation in the foundry industry. Meanwhile, Imtiaz Ali Rastgar, Chief Executive officer Engineering Development Board has called upon the business community to invest in the component manufacturing sector on account of the vast investment opportunities.
In a statement issued here on Monday on the eve of the first International Foundry Congress and Exhibition, he described manufacturing as the second largest sector of Pakistan's economy in terms of output and employment, and said that major global restructuring is on the move in manufacturing.
Rastgar said there was a need of shift in production paradigm to technology and knowledge based industrialisation with focus on the quantitative and qualitative growth of an integrated and competitive industry in the private sector.
Referring to growth in the auto and home appliance sectors, he said the country has the potential to develop certain components with advantage of infrastructure including human resources and zero duty on imports of all kinds of inputs.