LAHORE: Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) Senior Vice Chairman, Usman Aslam Malik, has underscored the need for scaling up bilateral trade with the international markets, especially focusing on Africa and other non-traditional markets to find more customers for our auto parts exports from Pakistan.

He was talking to a delegation of foreign ambassadors and commercial heads in the Foreign Service Academy, who visited the PAAPAM Head Office here on Friday. The delegation, headed by the Director of the Academy, Irfan Shoukat, took a keen interest in boosting trade, especially in the auto sector and strategic relations between their countries and Pakistan.

The delegation consisted of Ivan Kotov from Bulgaria, Dr Calleb Ongoma, Ms Christine Nzumbu from Kenya, Ms Aminath Raziyya from Maldives, Jama Hassan Salad from Somalia, Mashudubele Mamabolo from South Africa, Ihab Abdulrazig Abdallah Mohamed from Sudan, Mirzoaliev Norinj from Tajikistan, Meretdurdy Abdyllayev from Turkmenistan, and Azizbek Mizamov & Oybek Abdulkhakov from Uzbekistan.

The delegates appreciated the great potential for auto parts in Pakistan, which could be exported to their countries. The visiting excellences also briefed about raw materials their countries could offer to the Pakistani auto parts industry.

The Bulgarian ambassador, Ivan Kotov, invited PAAPAM members to visit Albania, which was centrally located in Eastern Europe. Dr Calleb Ongoma said their country was a gateway to many other neighbouring countries due to special preferential trade agreements. The other foreign office dignitaries also invited PAAPAM to visit their countries to explore export markets and import their raw materials.

PAAPAM Senior Vice Chairman gave a thorough presentation on PAAPAM members’ engineering technologies, quality standards, and production capacities.

He informed them that a delegation of PAAPAM members was already lined up to visit the African market to explore bilateral trade potential.

He said that Pakistan desperately needs to enhance the size of its export basket by introducing non-traditional markets and commodities. Auto parts and accessories are among the commodities that have great potential for exports. The only thing is to give the initiative to harness our available resources to expand our export base.

Africa, Latin America, Russia, and Central Estates are fertile areas for Pakistani auto products. The logistic barriers, banking issues, trust deficit, and fear of the unknown may be bridged up by creating a corporate presence in these markets, he added.

The former Chairman of PAAPAM, Syed Nabeel Hashmi, responded to many questions from the visiting officers to explain the current status of the auto sector in Pakistan, whose population exceeds 224 million. Hashmi told the delegates about the opportunities in Pakistan for JVs in the auto sector. PAAPAM Vice Chairman Taufiq Sherwani, EC member Mumshad Ali, EC member Muhammad Nasim, and Secretary General Ghulam Murtaza also briefed the guests about PAAPAM on this occasion.

Usman Malik called upon the government to support the auto parts industry, which has great potential to earn huge foreign exchange through exports. He said that auto parts vendors have the potential to grab a share in the international markets and need the government to focus on utilizing their potential.

PAAPAM is convinced that, given a supportive environment, the Automobile Industry has the potential to spearhead the country’s economic growth and contribute, in a major way, towards job creation and industrial investment. We hope that the government will formulate policies that support the local auto industry, as this industry is the mother of all industries.

Usman Malik said that Pakistan has rich human resources, and this offers immense potential for growth in the Automobile Sector. Our country has a vibrant Auto industry, with major global OEMs setting up their assembly plants in the country and using up to 90% local parts being supplied by a network of auto parts cottage industry vendors.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023