Industries ministry hopeful about EDB’s revival

It will present case to incoming govt for reversing decision on EDB shutdown

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Industries and Production is set to present a case before the incoming government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for reversing the previous government’s decision of shutting down the Engineering Development Board (EDB).

EDB, a wing of the industries ministry, was dissolved for alleged involvement of its staff in corruption and malpractices as well as for creating hurdles in the way of investment of billions of dollars.

The shutdown decision was made in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy in 2017, which was chaired by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.



An official revealed that a prominent businessman from Lahore, who was setting up an auto plant under the new auto policy, had complained to the then premier that the EDB was creating hurdles in the way of taking necessary approvals.

According to the official, the EDB was required to implement the new auto policy, but it created obstacles that discouraged potential new entrants, who had already done 80-90% work and imported machinery for setting up manufacturing plants in Pakistan. The EDB’s reluctance to give the go-ahead prompted the new players to lodge a complaint with the government.

The government had unveiled the new auto policy to stimulate investment in the vehicle manufacturing industry in an attempt to break the monopoly of existing three major players, which were marketing vehicles at higher prices and counting on obsolete technology.

Sharif gave approval for disbanding the EDB with immediate effect. During the energy committee meeting, he was informed that the EDB was not performing its duties and had failed to take appropriate steps to regulate and promote engineering enterprises.

It was also noted that malpractices had been widely prevalent in the engineering board and businesses were being exploited by its staff - a norm in dealing with the enterprises.



The meeting was told that the EDB had become a major impediment to improving the ease of doing business and creating an enabling environment for industrial expansion and economic development.

After comprehensive discussions, it transpired that the EDB was not serving any useful purpose and had rather become a stumbling block to good governance. Therefore, Sharif decided to close the board with immediate effect.

The Ministry of Industries and Production again tabled a case before the cabinet chaired by then prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in April this year, seeking withdrawal of the decision of closing down the EDB.

The ministry emphasised that there was a dire need to have an entity designed to foster technological development, promote R&D and create enabling environment with quantifiable and empirically observable metrics based on key performance indicators.

The ministry stated that by virtue of the board’s technically proven background, it possessed a cutting edge capacity to augment and enhance the engineering base of Pakistan.

The board was designed not only to serve as the regulatory arm of the ministry, but it was also tasked with examining and scrutinising all the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) related to trade policy, engineering practices and knowledge sharing for the ministries of commerce, foreign affairs, defence and the Board of Investment (BoI).

The cabinet was requested to review the decision regarding the closure of EDB as that step would adversely impact the industrial sector with damaging long-term consequences and collateral damage to the nascent national innovation campaign.

However, the cabinet turned down the plea and upheld the decision of shutting down the EDB. The official said the Ministry of Industries was now hopeful that the new government would review the decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2018.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.