Defence production: HIT, Norinco sign marketing, sale deal

KARACHI: Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) and Norinco China inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday, paving the way for joint marketing and sale on a private-public partnership basis of jointly manufactured defence and commercial products. The MoU, signed by HIT Chairman Lt Gen Ayaz Saleem Rana and Norinco Vice President Wang Li, will enable HIT to open itself to international markets in consent with the Government of Pakistan and the Government of China. Ministry of Defence Production’s Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Shahid Iqbal and Additional Secretary Tariq Rashid Khan were also present during the signing ceremony. This MoU, signed on the sidelines of the ongoing IDEAS 2012 defence exhibition, also encompasses further strengthening of joint commercial ventures undertaken by the two entities. HIT was established in 1974 in collaboration with Norinco, initially as a rebuilding factory. IT is currently manufacturing different defence and commercial products including tanks, prime movers, trucks etc.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2012.