PM calls for promoting new technologies

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday his government was focusing on reinvigorating ties with Japan in the field of trade and investment and stressed the need for promoting new technologies, like introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles.

The prime minister held separate meetings with delegation of Japanese companies and the representatives of a local motor company. Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Mitsuhiro Wada was also present in the meetings.

During the meetings, Shehbaz highlighted the government’s business-friendly policies and assured the businessmen that hurdles would be removed in the way of smooth functioning of the investment infrastructure.

The prime minister termed Japan a close friend of Pakistan. He set up a committee on a priority basis to resolve the issues facing the Japanese companies in Pakistan and sought the committee’s report within a week.

“Japan is one of the largest donors to Pakistan in the public sector development. The generous Japanese donations amounted to $13 billion dollars in seven decades and contributed immensely to the development of Pakistan,” he said.

He mentioned that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) played a positive role in providing Pakistan the technical support to grant aid and bilateral loans through the conduct of technical feasibility studies.

He recalled that in the 1990s, several Japanese companies were operating in Pakistan and mentioned that in 2016, the agreement with automobile manufacturing Suzuki resulted in providing employment to thousands of people.

He stressed immediate steps to exempt the export processing zones from taxes. He invited the Japanese companies to invest in Pakistan’s diverse sectors, including coal in Thar, iron ore in Chiniot, renewable energy, infrastructure, and public transport.

The Japanese companies expressed their keen interest in increasing investment in electric vehicle manufacturing, food processing, special economic zones, textiles, telecommunications, and auto-parts manufacturing.

In another meeting with the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Indus Motors Company, Shehbaz underscored the importance of localisation, incentivising new products and promoting new technologies, like the introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles at an early date.