ISLAMABAD: Commerce Ministry (MoC) has urged Public Sector Entities (PSEs) to give preference to domestic companies for procurement of engineering goods in accordance with Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) 2019.

According to Commerce Ministry, it received representations from various stakeholders alleging that public sector companies were not procuring their engineering goods from within the country, as envisaged in the SRO 827 12001 of December 03, 2001 since an amendment was made therein vide SRO 606(l)/201 9 on June 10,2019.

Unraveling state of engineering industry

Commerce Ministry explained that the issue was discussed in detail in a meeting held on December 22, 2023, attended by the representatives of relevant stakeholders, including M/s Gresham’s (Pvt.) Ltd., Engineering Development Bank (EDB), Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), Sui Southern Gas Pipeline Limited (SSGPL), Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), Ministry of Law & Justice and Ministry of Science, etc., wherein it was decided that a clarification should be issued to address the ambiguity arising out of implementation of the SRO 606(1)) 2019, amending para-4(l) of the SRO 827(l)/2001.

In light of discussions, Commerce Ministry clarified that para-3 and para-4 of the SRO 827 (1)2001 (as amended by SRO 606(1)2019) shall be read and construed together, i.e., public sector agencies shall preferably procure their requirements of engineering goods from within the country and omit such items from the list of barter, credit and loans, and shall be bound to accord price preference to local engineering goods manufacturers in their procurements of engineering goods.

The issue of procurement of local engineering goods is also under heated debate in the Senate Standing Committee on Power, with respect to procurement ACR Bunting Conductors for a project of National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC).

The role of Engineering Development Board (EDB) is also being critically scrutinised for not issuing revised list of companies after every six months.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024