New auto policy: Looking to balance local and imported

Commerce minister says government will protect consumer interest

KARACHI: The government wants to increase automobile manufacturing in the country and, at the same time, protect the interests of consumers in the upcoming auto policy, said Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan.

During his visit to Pakistan Auto Parts Show (PAPS) at Karachi Expo Centre, he said that the new policy will balance both car imports and manufacturing in the country.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif supports the efforts the local auto industry is putting in these exhibitions to show what we are producing for locally assembled automobiles,” he said.

The office bearers of Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (Paapam) stressed on the new auto policy to support localisation. “The more Pakistan moves towards localisation, the more it can reduce car prices,” Paapam Chairman Mohammad Siddique Misri said. “This is how new companies can be encouraged to enter into Pakistani market to compete with existing players.”

There were seven carmakers in Pakistan in 2007, but four of them left the country because of the liberal car import policies of the government, said the office bearers of Paapam.

They further added that low consumer financing in Pakistan is also hindering the growth of the auto sector. “Usually 70% of the car consumers get financing in different countries but this ratio is opposite in Pakistan; here only 30% are able to get financing from banks.”

PAPS is a premier industry event which is held once in two years. The exhibition brings together automakers and auto parts manufacturers to display local products.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2015.

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