Komatsu team arrives in Islamabad today

ISLAMABAD: A four-member high-level delegation of Komatsu Japan, the world’s second largest construction equipment manufacturer, will arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday (today) on the special invitation of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

During its weeklong stay in Pakistan, the delegation will explore opportunities of further enhancing its investments in the engineering sector of Pakistan. Besides meeting the prime minister, Federal Minister for Privatization & Investment Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Minister for Industries and Production Jehangir Tareen, the delegation will visit several manufacturing facilities in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, including Hub Wheel, Pak-Suzuki Motors, Rastgar Engineering Plant, Bolan Casting Ravi Autos and Progressive Engineering as well as Expo-Centre Karachi. Since establishing its liaison with Pakistan in 1979, M/s Komatsu has been supplying construction equipment in Pakistan. M/s Komatsu’s machinery is also being used in the agriculture departments of all the provinces.

Who is the motorbike supremo

AZHAR JAVED
The Japanese motorbike assemblers Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki have been manufacturing motorcycles for the last 25 years in the country and were enjoying a monopoly, but after China entered in the field of motorcycle assembling with the Pakistani counterparts, forced the manufacturers of Japanese brands to slash prices by Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000, but the prices are still high than that of the Chinese models. These three companies are trying to uphold their supremacy and rule over the market in the future ahead of the tough competition.
Sohrab, Qingi had given hard time for sometimes but did not maintain credibility in the market. They had introduced low prices motorcycles comparatively to Japanese brands. After the introducing Pak Hero, a joint venture of Pak-China traders, it had given tough time to all manufacturers.
Furthermore, the throat-cutting war on price among the existing motorbikes manufacturing companies, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Sohrab, Qingi and Pak Hero, Hero who had reduced their prices in last year. These companies continue to face tough competition in the wake of the latest price wars as some new companies have introduced bikes in the market. New entry of bikes like Metro, Jinan, Star, New Asia, Excel, Ravi, Super Star, United, Geo, Stylico motorcycles have already been started production and floated their bikes in the market with very competitive prices.
The scenario changed in favour of consumers in case more companies take plunge in bike assembling. There is a healthy competition in the market and this would directly benefit the general public.
After the launching Pak Hero in market, many investors of the country had decided to invest in the motorcycles industry because this business of viable through Chinese business community, these observed by Mohammad Azam Khan, authorised dealer of Pak Hero. He said only company who provided best quality, durability and availability of spare parts will win the battle. The low price is being the decisive factor to stay in the market as well. Two-wheel conveyance is very popular in the country due to its low price as compared to the four-wheelers.
The motorbike dealers has said the totally import of Chinese bikes flopped due to low quality and non-availability of spare parts in the country. The popular brands of Chinese bikes are Jialing Kapa, Lefan Crown, Toyo Skaigo, Guanta, Road Prince, Llllifan and many others. The market also offers a vast range and variety of heavy bikes in the category of 250cc and 350cc. The cost of these heavy bikes is between Rs 150,000 to Rs 250,000 each. Presently, the cheapest brand new motorcycle available at the market is 70cc Pak Hero that costs Rs 37,700 ex-factory rate.
Some companies are offering leasing facilities to attract the buyers and helped boost of the sales. Currently, the price of Chinese motorcycles and that of the locally assembled ones is nearly the same.
Motorcycle assembling in the country has increased by 71.95 per cent during 2003-04. The motorcycle industry is paying around Rs 3.5 to 4 billion annually as taxes and duties to the government. The rapid increase in production is due to increase in sale of motorcycle and its popularisation in the middle-income group, say motorcycle dealers.
Motorcycle brokers are of the view that the arrival of more brands in the market, positively a boom in the business, encouraging a healthy competitive atmosphere. They are also of the view that the local manufacturers should reduce their prices further to compete with the rest of the world.
During the last six months from July to December, various motorcycle companies assembled 0.198 million motorcycles units whereas sales remained 0.194 million while Honda manufactured 0.132 million. Yamaha manufactured 35,000 motorcycles, Suzuki 14,000, Sohrab 5,000 and Qingi 7,000. The overall production of motorbikes in the country was 165,105 units in 2002-03. Honda was major producer with 115,924 units, Yamaha was on second position with 27,427 units production and Suzuki produced 13,610 units in last financial year.
According to rough estimate, the demand of motorcycles is 0.4 million units per year and the demand is likely to double to 0.8 million to 1 million units by 2008, Irfan Qadir, Managing Director of Qadir Engineering Works informed.
Atlus Honda Company wants to increase its sales in keeping of this view the company has reduced its prices. The company intends sells over 100,000 motorcycles a year, and now it is planning to double its sale after the new plant. The demand of Honda motorcycle is still rising throughout the country owing to its lower petrol average and resale value. According to McLeod Road union representative, about 2000 to 3,000 new motorcycles are currently sold in Lahore per month and sales peaked in March more. President Pervez Musharraf had said during the open ceremony of Ring Road project in Lahore, the sale of motorcycles in country had increased five times which reflected the better financial position of people and the growth of motorcycle assembling increased by 35 per cent.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz speaking on the occasion of 40th anniversary of Honda Atlas operations in Pakistan marked by groundbreaking ceremony of $100 million new Honda motorcycle plant recently in Sheikhupura.
He said government’s decision to focus public sector investment towards infrastructure development would give a positive boost to growth, investment, which, ultimately, he said would address the problems of unemployment and poverty. PM said the engineering industry was in the forefront to make economy stronger, whereas 100 billion auto industry, under the head of motorcycles, was taking the lead marking itself a hi-tech value-added sector, providing high skilled job opportunities to the people.
He said Pakistan must have more and more industries, enabling environment provided by the government to help increase motorcycle production from 100,000 in 2002 to the projected level of over 500,000 during the current fiscal year. Motorcycles importers criticize the high duty structure on the import of new motorcycles. The average price of various imported motorcycles ranges between Rs 40,000 to Rs 42,000 but customers can get a good motorcycle at Rs 21,000 if duties are lowered.
The government charges about 90 per cent duty on the import of motorcycles. The World Trade Organisation regime, the maximum import duty would be brought down to 40 per cent from January 1, 2005. The local automobile assemblers are pressurising the government to maintain import duty on motorcycles at current level of 90 per cent, but there are obligations of the WTO, which the government could not ignore, comments a bike dealer.
It is expected that the government would reduce import duty on motorcycles resulting the cost come down. The Chinese assembled motorcycles would be available at Rs 32,000 in a few months time.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industries and Production has rejected the local investors’ demand of 70 per cent deletion facility for manufacturing new brands of Chinese motorcycles in Pakistan, a senior official of the ministry said.
The local investors met Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, and other senior officials of the Ministry and the Engineering Development Board (EDB) couple of week. In the meeting Super Asia, Gwanta and Qingi demanded at least 70 per cent deletion facility for manufacturing new model motorbikes with Chinese technology in Pakistan. But the EDB rejected the pleas of investors that 70 per cent deletion facility could not be provided to any motorcycle manufacturer in the country.
New bikes assemblers has urged the EDB to reduce deletion level in initial stage because the manufacturers of Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki motorcycles achieved 80 per cent deletion in 25 years. If the 70 deletion would be allow, the local spare parts manufacturers hit hard and thousands of people attached this trade to starvation due to lost jobs.

85pc deletion level for bikes under way




By Our Reporter

ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Indigenization Committee of Engineering Development Board has decided to fix uniform level of 85 per cent deletion in motorcycle sector in order to move to Tariff Base System (TBS), says a press release issued here on Saturday.

A list of deleted parts and other list of importable were also approved. The committee met here under the chairmanship of Mr Razak Dawood, the Chairman, EDB.

The committee decided to meet soon in Karachi to consult the stakeholders to evolve uniform system for cars, trucks and buses. The Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) was entrusted the duty of consulting main manufacturers of tractors in order to fix the agreed achieved level in case of different categories.

The committee while deliberating on the issue of acute shortage of ###### iron and hard coal decided to recommend a temporary relief in duty unless the steel mill resumes its normal production.

It also decided to review the genuine requests pertaining to shortfalls in to deletion programmes and other problems.

The meeting was attended by Mr Imtiaz Rastgar, VC/CEO and Mr Javed Akhtar Paracha, Coordinator EDB, representatives of the CBR, Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives and other concerned departments, and Mr Kunwar Idris, Chairman, Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) and Syed Mehdi Ali Rizvi, Chairman,Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM).

Issues of the automotive industry and their solution
By Sohail P. Ahmed

July 30, 2005

Source: Business Recorder

ARTICLE (July 30 2005): Automotive industry in developed economies forms about 10 % of the GDP. Amazingly in little Vietnam, it is a much higher percentage because of the advantages it offered to those who wanted to out shore their operations. In Pakistan too, it contributes substantially to the GDP and provides about 6.5% to the national exchequer.

Currently the automotive industry is in a remarkable growth mode as figures given under will reflect:

=======================================
NUMBERS 2002 2004 2005*
in 000 of:
=======================================
Cars & LCVs 49 112 150
Motorcycles 135 350 500
Tractors 22 38 43
Trucks/Buses 2.5 3.5 4.3
=======================================

-- (Estimated)

The growth has brought about due contribution to society and the country in the form of:

EMPLOYMENT: (Direct)
100,000, 130,000, 142,000

INDIRECT EMPLOYMENT:
is in the ratio of 1:100
Contribution to Exchequer (Rs b) 23, 32, 37

SAVINGS IN:
Forex - $600m, 1100, 1250

Besides, the automotive wallahs continue to look after schools, hospitals, orphanages and participate in crisis times in whatever measure and manner they can.

THE GROWTH HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF:
-- Consistent policies of government
-- Industry supportive policies of government
-- Low leasing rates
-- Introduction of new models

The irony is that what helped the industry to forge ahead is now being wrought into different shapes and causing huge concern to the auto engineering industry - the vendor industry.

The main issues which have now surfaced are:

1. Change of government policy year by year, and not necessarily in favour of industry.
2. Fear of roll back.
3. Increase in interest and leasing rates.
4. Lack of development of sustaining and supportive infrastructure.
5. Unethical practices in trade.

THE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

GOVERNMENT POLICIES:
Surely a vision of Pakistan and the place of engineering and automotive industry in it should be possible. An exercise to enunciate it in quantitative terms along with the requisite road map was carried out in 2002, presented to and accepted by the President of Pakistan.

Is it asking too much to identify the automotive industry as a 'Driver' industry; after all it forms 13% of the world engineering trade which at the last count was 63% of the total trade. Are examples of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Japan, India and USA, etc not sufficient to clinch the argument, if any, that this industry can be the engine of growth of our economy, the fruits of which easily percolate to the lowest strata as it is one of the largest employer in the world. In India it provides employment to 1% of the total population; in Malaysia the industry provided employment to 4.1% of the employed in 2002 - must be higher now, in Germany every 7th person is employed in it.

USA, only last month slapped quota on textile imports from China, in days of non-quota (!!) only to save its own industry. Why are we shy of doing things which are right by our industry?

What the industry needs is a clear statement of what government levies on CBU and CKD of vehicles will be for the next 7 years, whether they are reduced over the period or increased (!) is secondary, it is absolutely essential that they be known today; that second hand vehicles and parts will be importable at exorbitant rates of levies only; that trade will also be brought into sales tax net; that unethical practices in the trade of auto parts will be progressively weaned out (only 12% of the after market needs are met by the local industry!)

Are these unfair requirements of the industry? Thailand and India, the 2 Asian giants of automotive industry are following the above practices. India has now replaced Italy as the 11th largest producer of automotives in the world, while Italy has slipped to 14th. It produced 11.78 lakhs cars and LCVs in 2004 vs 400,000 7 years back. TATA has also bought out Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Plant in Korea. Kudos for them!

INVESTMENTS:
All the vendors and auto makers have been investing heavily and plan even more investment. Pak Suzuki alone has invested over Rs 2 billion in 2 years; HACPL and IMC have also invested substantially and have finalised plans for Rs 1.5 billion more each.

The vendors have invested about Rs 1.75 billion and are now generally running multishifts. Can the investments made and that needed to be made, be carried out with confidence in absence of a sustained, known friendly policy.

EXPORTABILITY:
Volume is important for every industry, but more so for the automotive, as model changes happen every few years, as well as technological obsolescence hounds the investment in fixed assets.

Lack of volume not only inhibits efficient manufacture but also affects the quality. The policies and strategy should create an environment for volume production and an indigenous capability for innovation and investment, which will create exportability.

Without volume, without proper investment in equipment, without investment in people, without technological prowess, without a culture of progression, to become a part of supply chain in the world or the region will remain a pipe dream.

This enablement will only come about when we start making 250,000 to 300,000 cars, and then only a quantum jump in exports will happen.

If the choice is for trade, then the losers will be the vendors (the real auto industry), the common people of Pakistan who will be denied jobs and, the government because of the loss to the exchequer; the winners will be a paltry few traders and the rich who yearn for top of the line vehicles. I am told more Mercedes have been sold in a month, than sold in a year. One can see Lexuses and BMWs on the road now - all imported.

I suggest that a clear and unambiguous choice be made for the industry. Hurrah for the leaders!

ROLL BACK:
Localisation in Pakistan has not happened by itself. The OEMs have had to be prodded and pushed, time and again by EDB and Dr Akram Shaikh, its erstwhile Chairman. Naturally not everybody loves him. Whilst he may have been harsh on some occasions, he fought for the engineering industry at every forum passionately and to him the vendor industry owes a debt.

Now under the onslaught of WTO, a scheme called Tariff Based System (TBS) is being introduced. There are many uncertainties in the scheme, especially for vendors, which are causing concern.

A full dialogue with the industry needs to be held by EDB and CBR jointly, to alleviate the fears the industry has, otherwise there is likely to be a chaos. Now that implementation of TBS has been deferred until September '05, I suggest a mock tariff book be prepared, and comments be sought on it so that anomalies be removed before implementation.

Another fear the vendors have is that OEMs will withdraw orders where they may be legitimately more expensive (in due course of time local costs do come down generally, with volume increase, rupee depreciation and OEMs intransigence). As high tariffs are being proposed, by way of a deterrent, for local manufactured parts, OEMs will be within their right to do so. If a penalty neutral tariff was adopted then the OEMs would have been bound not to withdraw any order. To be competitive in the current scenario, vendors will have to revisit their cost and structure.

It is suggested that OEMs should work with the 'uneconomical vendors' to help them reduce the cost; a short term pain may lead to eventual gain for them and Pakistan. It is also suggested that vendors be helped by the OEMs to enter into technology agreements with the suppliers to their Principals, as this is likely to eschew roll back on one hand and reduce cost in the medium term.

We are short on Technology, which is often confused with being technical. As more TAAs are signed up with different vendors the whole environment in the industry will get charged creating its own dynamics. In 1998 Malaysia paid $2392 m as Technical fees, and Pakistan only $7 m. we have a long long way to go.

INTEREST RATES
The interest rates are increasing, pushing the leasing rates up. This will certainly curtail the booking of vehicles if over 11 - 12 %. The good days could end soon, unless matters are put right by the government. As far as I can perceive the inflation is cost pushed in our country, not demand driven. Higher interest rates will curtail the effectiveness of the middle class and in fact the strata itself will shrink.

SUPPORTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE:
Supportive infrastructure is like buoyancy of water which helps to keep the swimmer afloat. Some laws which need to be improved and faithfully implemented are:

1. MOTOR VEHICLES ACT:
It needs to be updated and implemented. This would reduce the hazard of accidents and loss of lives witnessed daily on our roads.

Perhaps a citizen-police NGO should be made responsible for inspection of vehicles. The Road Users Association could be asked to join in.

2. EMISSION STANDARDS:
By emission standards we live in dark ages. The diesel engine in the world is moving towards Euro IV, but we are still at the starting line. How can we export our products anywhere if we don't move with the world. However to use Euro Standard Engines, the diesel and petrol have both got to be improved.

3. ANTI DUMPING LAWS:
The laws come into force only after one has been hurt, even fatally! They have to be brought into play before calamity strikes. We are after all small players and trying to play catch up. Here an industry friendly approach is needed.

4. EDUCATION & TRAINING:
Thinking professionals are needed. Our education system needs to be tuned to producing 'developed brains' not exam passers. Good professionals are difficult to come by especially because of the brain drain from our country. Those few still around are in constant mobility due to great demand.

Vocational training institutes, polytechnics need a fresh look at their syllabi, teaching materials, teaching methods and the faculty.

The automotive industry has already helped establish some training centres and could be easily prodded to do more.

5. UNETHICAL PRACTICES:
For some reasons autoparts attract the unscrupulous the most, and in Pakistan we have rampant under invoicing, misdeclaration and smuggling. Infact no autopart imported other than by an OEM or a recognised vendor is at its real price. A shock absorber and strut gets imported at less than a dollar, the raw material of which alone costs many dollars!!

It is estimated that the current spares market size is Rs 25 billion, of which only 11 - 12% is met by the local industry. The balance is brought in the country, one way or the other.

This deprives the vendors a very sizeable market and deprives the government of their rightful dues. Even a reduction of 25% in this field would improve the government revenues manifold as well as prompt the industry to make investments. Both fiscal and administrative matters are needed here to ameliorate the situation in favour of the national exchequer and the industry.

POTENTIAL OF THE INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN:
Automotive industry is more that just an industry. It has been called "Industry of the Industries" by Peter Ducker and a "Mother Industry" by many. For us in this country, it is also a strategic industry as it provides the technology and skills which spill over to sensitive industries as well.

This industry has been used by many countries to develop their economies and has become the back bone of industrial initiatives. In Pakistan there are only 7.5 cars per thousand persons; the world average is 120, India is at 9 and China 12. To reach 12 per thousand persons by 2010 we need to start producing 250,000 vehicles per annum from today. The potential is very substantial and its effect on our economy will be profound and liberating to the populace at large.

This industry can create the magic our country needs to leap frog into the future of choice and shake hands with tomorrow.

Links of Major Engineering Enterprises in Pakistan

Engineering
Links:

Adamjee Engineering
Adamjee Engineering (Pvt.) Ltd., was incorporated in 1949 as a trading company.
(URL: http://adamjee-engg.com Hits: 338)


Allied Engineering & Services Ltd.
We are the authorized dealer in Pakistan for Caterpillar construction equipment, power generation equipment and lift trucks.
(URL: http://www.aesl.com.pk/ Hits: 488)


Allied Engineering Consultants
Architects, Engineers, Planners
(URL: http://www.alliedec.com/ Hits: 282)


Alucan(Pvt) Ltd
Manufacturers of aluminium slugs, aluminium collapsible tubes and rigid containers
(URL: http://www.alu-can.com Hits: 354)


AULIA Oil Mill Machinery Company
Leading manufacturers and exporters of OILSEED PROCESSING MACHINERY, including Cotton Ginning, Edible Oil Mills, Cooking Oil Plants and Soap.
(URL: http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Enterprises/1569/ Hits: 307)


Baluchistan Wheels Limited
Manufacturers of wheels in Pakistan
(URL: http://www.bwheels.com/ Hits: 182)


Burki & Company Heavy Constructions Equipments
Burki & Company is a trusted name and leading dealer of construction equipment and all kind of construction machinery for rent and sale all over Pakistan.
(URL: http://www.burki786.com.pk Hits: 75)


Business Links International Pvt Limited
Business Links International (Pvt.) Limited (BLI), is an import based trading company operating since 1978.
(URL: http://www.businesslinks-pk.com Hits: 72)


Cool Industries (Pvt) Ltd
One of leading Refrigeration & Air-conditioning Industries in Pakistan, manufacturing a wide range of Refreigerators, Deep Freezers and Air-conditioners with the brand name "WAVES", 'Naam hi kaafi hai'.
(URL: http://www.waves.net.pk Hits: 607)


Descon Engineering Limited
(URL: http://www.descon.com.pk/ Hits: 382)


Engineering Consultants International
(URL: http://www.ecil.com/ Hits: 170)


Ezzi Engineering
involved in imports, fabrication, technical assistance, installation and supplies of diverse electrical & mechnical engineering product system and services
(URL: http://www.ezziengineering.com/ Hits: 180)


Fabricon
Custom Built Manufacturing and Specialist Fabricators of Specialized products and equipment of Distinction.
(URL: http://www.fabricon.com.pk Hits: 299)


Fazal Steel (Pvt) Limited
Pakistan's best steel rerolling mill.
(URL: http://www.fazalsteel.com Hits: 293)


Future Component Solutions
(URL: http://www.fcsglobal.net Hits: 213)


General Electric
(URL: http://www.ge.com.pk Hits: 254)


General Pipe & Machinery Stores (Pvt) Ltd
Valves, Pipes, Fittings & other Industrial Equipments.
(URL: http://www.lcci.org.pk/general/ Hits: 184)


Geomatics & Engineering Services (Pvt.) Ltd.
G&ES is the only Chartered Land Survey company in Pakistan. We provide services in all disciplines of Survey, Mapping.
(URL: http://www.gespk.cjb.net Hits: 66)


Haroon Brothers
weighing scales.. weighbridges.. lab scales..automation of batching plants..filling plants..
(URL: http://www.haroonbrothers.cjb.net Hits: 205)


Heavy Mechanical Complex (Pvt) Ltd
(URL: http://www.hmc.com.pk/ Hits: 264)


Hi-Tech PCB's
Printed Writing Board Manufacturers and CaDesigner.
(URL: http://www.hi-techpcbs.com.pk Hits: 193)


Instrumentation & Management Systems
(URL: http://www.ims.com.pk/ Hits: 157)


Integrated Dynamics
Products include Unarmed Autonomous Vehicle (UAV) and Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) systems.
(URL: http://www.idaerospace.com/ Hits: 75)


IVCC Engineering
Specialised Civil Engineering
(URL: http://www.ivcclhr.com Hits: 9)


Laryngoscopes, Otoscopes
Manufacturing & Exporting Laryngoscopes, Otoscopes, Diagnostic sets and General Surgery Instruments.
(URL: http://www.bvcco.com Hits: 62)


Mehran Engineers
Mehran Engineers - Civil & mechanical contractors
(URL: http://mehran.gq.nu Hits: 300)


Metaline Industries (Pvt) Limited
Invovled in precision machining and presswork for manufacturing of automotive parts and components and other engineering sectors of the Country.
(URL: http://www.metalinegroup.com Hits: 187)


Metwork Engineering Works
(URL: http://www.metwork.com.pk/ Hits: 161)


Naeem & Company
Manufacturer of Agriculture Machinery
(URL: http://www.naeemco.com Hits: 146)


National Engineering Services Pakistan
(URL: http://www.nespak.com.pk/ Hits: 277)

National Engineers
National Engineers is marketing High Technology Equipment and solutions in different areas.
(URL: http://www.ne.com.pk Hits: 41)


National Environmental Consulting (Pvt) Ltd.
(URL: http://www.nec.com.pk Hits: 132)


National Scientific Corporation
(URL: http://www.nationalscientific.com.pk/ Hits: 151)


Pakistan Machine Tool Factory (Pvt) Ltd
a precision engineering goods manufacturing
(URL: http://www.pmtfl.com Hits: 219)


Precision Tools & Hardware Industry
Manufacturers & Exporters of Quality hand tools like tweezers ( 1-SA, 3C-SA, 00-SA, 0C-SA, OOD-SA etc), Hemostatic forceps either serrated or non-serrated, Stainless steel wire brushes & probes for the electronic benchtop.
(URL: http://www.geocities.com/precisiontools_pk Hits: 170)


PreCold
(URL: http://www.precold.com/ Hits: 169)


Prime Steel
Prime Steel Manufacturers
(URL: http://primesteel.com.pk Hits: 43)


Saify Iron (Private) Limited
It was established in 1955 under the name of Saify Iron Mart. The Company deals in products of Iron & Steel.
(URL: http://www.saifyiron.com/ Hits: 125)


Siemens Pakistan
(URL: http://www.siemens.com.pk/ Hits: 336)


State Engineering Corporation!
SE is a public sector organization working under the administrative control of Ministry of Industries & Production, Government of Pakistan, having its registered office in Islamabad.
(URL: http://www.sec.gov.pk Hits: 3)


Super Asia Muhammad Din Sons (Pvt) Ltd
Home Appliance Manufacturer - Washing Machines, Geysers, Room Air Coolers, Hot & Cold Water Dispensers
(URL: http://www.superasia.com.pk Hits: 236)


The Universal Engineering Company
Universal Engineering Company was established in 1980 for the manufacturing of domestic appliances.
(URL: http://www.desertcooler.com Hits: 167)


Toronto International Trade Corporation
T.I.T.C. is actively involved in infrastructure and mining development in Pakistan. Its major projects include Karachi Mass Transit Project and Exploration and Mining of Gold and Base Metals in Chitral.
(URL: http://www.titc.org Hits: 34)


Trillium Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd.
A private sector marketing and an engineering concern established in 1983.
(URL: http://www.trillium-pakistan.com/ Hits: 156)


Umer Engineering Services
Engineering Company dealing in washers, laundry driers, iron equipment etc.
(URL: http://www.umerengineering.com Hits: 151)


United Marine Surveyors
UNITED MARINE SURVEYORS (UMS) was incorporated in May, 1988, as an independent and neutral Surveying Company in Karachi, Pakistan.
(URL: http://www.ums.com.pk Hits: 17)

Pakistan could be manufacturing hub

By MONEM FAROOQI
LAHORE - Blaming the international changes which he described unkind, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that oil and commodity prices have put Pakistani economy under inflationary pressures, “but this is a global change rather than a Pakistan specific one.”
Speaking on the 40th anniversary of Honda Atlas operations in Pakistan, marked by groundbreaking ceremony of 100 million dollars new Honda Motorcycle plant here Monday, the prime minister admitted that agriculture sector indicated a slower growth rate as compared to last year.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that 2.6 percent decline in agriculture sector from 4.1 as compared with the previous year saying, “but that it was due to pest attack on cotton crop.” Shaukat Aziz said that lower than expected wheat crops yield also contributed to slowing-down of agriculture sector growth.
However, Prime Minister said the present government had been taking several measures for the economic fundamentals of Pakistan, which he said had steadily been improving over the last couple of years in the wake of prudent economic policies adoption. He said present policies were acting as catalyst in bringing about economic stability and predictability.
With low interest rates and steady exchange rate, he said, economy had shown signs of growth and resilience in the face of ever increasing geo-political challenges, as both trade and investment figures reflected growth, he remarked.
He said government’s decision to focus public sector investment towards infrastructure development would give a positive boost to growth and investment, which, ultimately, he said would address the problems of unemployment and poverty.
As per PM, the present government is bringing down the cost of Pakistani products to compete globally. “Our goal is to adopt a new strategy to encourage rapid industrialisation for creating more job opportunities in the country,” he observed.
He said the engineering industry was in the forefront to make economy stronger, whereas 100 billion auto-industry, under the head of motorcycles, was taking the lead marking itself a hi-tech value-added sector, providing high skilled job opportunities to the people.
Prime Minister said that WTO framework allowed a country enough flexibility for its industry to grow and develop. “Irrespective of the WTO requirements, there is enough space to provide good working environment to automobile industry,” he assured the assemblers and vendors.
He said that excess capacity had largely been consumed in various sectors, adding that capacity enhancements were currently being carried out in several sectors including textiles, engineering, electronics, cement and packaging.
He said that the low interest rates had enabled the financial sector to become more dynamic. Rather than just lending to the government, the focus of innovation had been the private sector and the consumer, he added. This step unleashed unforeseen consumer purchasing power across the economy with over 50 per cent growth rate in consumer durables like TVs, refrigerators and motorcycles. Shaukat Aziz said that a tight fiscal stance helped stabilize the economy. “The budget deficit is at around 4 per cent and inflation has largely been kept in single digit range”, he added.
Talking about the performance of Pakistan’s economy in the year 2003-04, he said that a real GDP growth rate of 6.4% was achieved during this year.
He said that all the sectors contributed to the growth but automobile, electronics, textiles and cement sectors clearly stood out.
Shaukat Aziz said that large scale manufacturing had grown by 16 per cent - a trend that augers well for high growth during current fiscal year.
Shaukat Aziz said that the indigenous auto industry with 80% to 90% deletion level in tractors and 50% to 70% in cars, has performed well over the last few years under auspices of Engineering Development Board (EDB).
He said that it was government’s policy to localize as localization led to self-reliance. He urged the auto industry to export automobiles and improve competitiveness adding that wages in many competitor countries were on the rise, providing an ample opportunity to Pakistani auto industry to take advantage.
Prime Minister said that Pakistan could prove a regional manufacturing hub for South Asia, Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. He said that Pakistan must have more and more industries, enabling environment provided by the government to help increase motorcycle production from 100,000 in 2002 to the projected level of over 500,000 during the current fiscal year.
Highlighting some of the measures taken so far, he said that launching of industrial parks all over the country operated as public-private partnership was providing a hassle free investment environment. He said stable macro economic situation had also provided a high growth environment for investors.
Talking about the tariffs for raw material, he said that the tariffs had been reduced to ensure competitiveness of local manufactures, which would, he said, continue in future budgets. He said that continuity and consistency of economic policies would ensure a predictable environment for investors.
Prime minister said that the present government was promoting healthy labour-management relations to improve productivity and competitiveness. He said that his government was focusing on SME sector promotion through skill enhancement, easier availability of credit and technology transfer.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice President Honda Japan, M. Hamane commended government for providing healthy environment to auto industry adding that Honda Atlas would produce 300,000 motorcycles this year. He urged the government to take notice of the companies that were marketing foreign-made motorcycles in the name of locals.
Earlier, in his welcome address, President and Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Honda Limited, Saquib H.Shirazi said that they had successfully met the three challenges of volume, consumer benefit and investment before them. Talking about volume he said that Atlas Honda was going to produce 300,000 motorcycles this year out of half million of country production. Despite some undesirable practices adopted by some players in the sector, the consumers were made able to discerning between value added and one time-buy phenomena.
Talking about the passing on the volume benefit to the consumer, Saquib Shirazi said Atlas Honda had increased its localisation and volume continuously and could able it to achieve over 90 percent of the result. He said that Atlas Honda had reduced prices by 25 percent by reaching to the lower middle class users.
About investment he said that Honda had invested about 25 million dollars to expand the existing facilities and over 2,000 new jobs had been provided besides contributing around Rs. 9 billion to national exchequer.
Referring to the new Motorcycle Plant, Shirazi said that the plant would be set up at a cost of US $ 100 million.

Pak companies to import 132 ml dollar steel equipment from India
Posted on Saturday, September 03, 2005




Islamabad, In separate agreements, six Pakistani companies have signed contracts worth 132 million dollars with Indian steel companies to import engineering goods and services.

According to the Online news agency, the Pakistani companies involved in the deal are Mughal Steel, Pakistani Star Cotton Corp, Pakistani Dynacorp pvt ltd, FSL group, Huffaz Seamless Pipe, and Qadbros Engineering.

Of these six companies, five will import the goods and services from Indian Beekay Engineering Corp while Qadbros Engineering will do the purchasing from Chhattisgarh Electricity Company Limited.

Beekay's deal with Mughal Steel, which is worth 20 million dollars, includes the setting up of a blast furnace, whereas Pakistani Star Cotton Corp has ordered a rolling mill, induction furnace, and DRI plant, amounting in all to 40 million dollars.

Dynacorp is to import a DRI plant worth 7 million dollars, while Huffaz Seamless Pipe will purchase a rolling mill and DRI plant costing 15 million dollars.

FSL group will buy a DRI plant at a cost of 20 million dollars. All the deals with Beekay Engineering Corp will include design, engineering supply and supervision services.

Pakistan could be manufacturing hub: Shaukat


LAHORE : Blaming the international changes which he described unkind, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that oil and commodity prices have put Pakistani economy under inflationary pressures, “but this is a global change rather than a Pakistan specific one.”

Speaking on the 40th anniversary of Honda Atlas operations in Pakistan, marked by groundbreaking ceremony of 100 million dollars new Honda Motorcycle plant here, the prime minister admitted that agriculture sector indicated a slower growth rate as compared to last year.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that 2.6 percent decline in agriculture sector from 4.1 as compared with the previous year saying, “but that it was due to pest attack on cotton crop.” Shaukat Aziz said that lower than expected wheat crops yield also contributed to slowing-down of agriculture sector growth.

However, Prime Minister said the present government had been taking several measures for the economic fundamentals of Pakistan, which he said had steadily been improving over the last couple of years in the wake of prudent economic policies adoption. He said present policies were acting as catalyst in bringing about economic stability and predictability.

With low interest rates and steady exchange rate, he said, economy had shown signs of growth and resilience in the face of ever increasing geo-political challenges, as both trade and investment figures reflected growth, he remarked.

He said government’s decision to focus public sector investment towards infrastructure development would give a positive boost to growth and investment, which, ultimately, he said would address the problems of unemployment and poverty.

As per PM, the present government is bringing down the cost of Pakistani products to compete globally. “Our goal is to adopt a new strategy to encourage rapid industrialisation for creating more job opportunities in the country,” he observed.

He said the engineering industry was in the forefront to make economy stronger, whereas 100 billion auto-industry, under the head of motorcycles, was taking the lead marking itself a hi-tech value-added sector, providing high skilled job opportunities to the people.

The Prime Minister said that WTO framework allowed a country enough flexibility for its industry to grow and develop. “Irrespective of the WTO requirements, there is enough space to provide good working environment to automobile industry,” he assured the assemblers and vendors.

He said that excess capacity had largely been consumed in various sectors, adding that capacity enhancements were currently being carried out in several sectors including textiles, engineering, electronics, cement and packaging.

He said that the low interest rates had enabled the financial sector to become more dynamic. Rather than just lending to the government, the focus of innovation had been the private sector and the consumer, he added. This step unleashed unforeseen consumer purchasing power across the economy with over 50 per cent growth rate in consumer durables like TVs, refrigerators and motorcycles. Shaukat Aziz said that a tight fiscal stance helped stabilize the economy. “The budget deficit is at around 4 per cent and inflation has largely been kept in single digit range”, he added.

Talking about the performance of Pakistan’s economy in the year 2003-04, he said that a real GDP growth rate of 6.4% was achieved during this year.

He said that all the sectors contributed to the growth but automobile, electronics, textiles and cement sectors clearly stood out.

Shaukat Aziz said that large scale manufacturing had grown by 16 per cent - a trend that augers well for high growth during current fiscal year.

Shaukat Aziz said that the indigenous auto industry with 80% to 90% deletion level in tractors and 50% to 70% in cars, has performed well over the last few years under auspices of Engineering Development Board (EDB).

He said that it was government’s policy to localize as localization led to self-reliance. He urged the auto industry to export automobiles and improve competitiveness adding that wages in many competitor countries were on the rise, providing an ample opportunity to Pakistani auto industry to take advantage.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan could prove a regional manufacturing hub for South Asia, Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. He said that Pakistan must have more and more industries, enabling environment provided by the government to help increase motorcycle production from 100,000 in 2002 to the projected level of over 500,000 during the current fiscal year.

Highlighting some of the measures taken so far, he said that launching of industrial parks all over the country operated as public-private partnership was providing a hassle free investment environment. He said stable macro economic situation had also provided a high growth environment for investors.

Talking about the tariffs for raw material, he said that the tariffs had been reduced to ensure competitiveness of local manufactures, which would, he said, continue in future budgets. He said that continuity and consistency of economic policies would ensure a predictable environment for investors.

A German company, Dyna has agreed to relocate its whole ‘machining capacity’ to Pakistan after entering into a joint venture with a Pakistani company.

Dyna would be exporting its Rs90 million worth of machinery to Pakistan within few weeks time, Renault and Volkswagen delegations are also landing in Pakistan to explore possibilities of starting their operations.

Car production increased by 33.1% in August

By Arshad Hussain

KARACHI: Car production by the local auto assemblers and manufacturers increased by 33.1 percent in August this year to 12,041 units compared to 9,041 units produced in the same month last year.

The data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufactur-ers Association (PAMA) said on Tuesday that the sale of cars increased by 34.8 percent during the period as the companies sold 12,027 units in August this year compared to 8,920 units in August last year.

“The reduction in import duty in the fiscal year 2005-06 budget and increase in depreciation rates on used cars’ import have not hampered the local car sales,” said Faraz Farooq, auto analyst at Jahangir Siddiqui and Co.

Car sales during July-Aug 2005-06 stood at 23,530 units as against 19,169 units during the corresponding period of last year, portraying an increase by 23 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, August 2005 sales also compared favourably with those of July 2005 of 11,503 vehicles – a growth by 5 percent. This shows car sales have not been affected by the rising interest rates.

Amongst the four leading car assemblers, Honda Atlas posted highest sales growth of 114 percent to 5,259 vehicles during the first two months of fiscal year 2005-06 amidst increased production capacity. Indus Motor’s sale declined by 4 percent to 5,462 units as its plant did not operate on full capacity due to the maintenance purpose. Pak Suzuki sold 14,957 vehicles – an increase of 24 percent over corresponding period’s sales. Dewan Farooque sales grew by 7 percent and reached 1,747 vehicles.

The company has ceased the production of its KIA brand and decided to go for its CBU import.

Suzuki Baleno’s production and sales were up by 87.7 percent from 400 units to 751 units and 74 percent from 427 units to 747 units, respectively, in August 2005 as compared to August 2004, the data said.

The data said Honda Civic (140 percent sales growth year on year) and Honda City (133 percent sales growth year on year) led the charge and were the momentum drivers for the continuing year on year increase in the local car sales and production.

The sales of small cars from 800cc to 1000cc remained on top this month and the production also touched all time high.

In this segment, Suzuki Mehran’s sales and production increased by 27 percent and 41.4 percent, respectively. Suzuki Cultus production improved by 74 percent from 1,050 units to 1,838 units and its sales rose by 71.5 percent from 1,061 units to 11.820 units.

Cuore sales declined by 18 percent from 655 units to 537 units and production decreased by 37 percent from 686 units to 494 units.

Govt broadening horizon of engineering sector
Pak becomes 16th country of world to produce cars: PM

John Thakur Das

Karachi—Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said today that Pakistan now stands amongst 16 countries of the world that produce cars and the fact strengthens the resolve that if talented people are determined they can do much more for Pakistan’s progress.
Performing the launching ceremony of a purely designed Pakistani car ‘Revo’ by Adam Motor Company the Prime Minister pointed out that the industrial sector is going through a transition period as the globalization is around the corner.
He cautioned that the competitive forces are looking at every market in the world to see how they perform. To be vigilant of that fact Pakistani industrialists have to focus on two areas for success and those are competitiveness and productivity to survive otherwise “we will vanish. No longer can we hide from competition at the same time any country like Pakistan which is a developing country, the industry needs full support so that other countries do not dump their product and destroy what have built here over such a long time.”
The Prime Minister asserted that “as we look at our industry Pakistan is traditionally a major textile producer but we need to migrate from textile to look around in areas where we can grow and develop.” And clearly engineering industry is the vital sector where Pakistan possesses natural skills and to exploit the potential it requires capital, technical abilities and determination. The government is committed to encourage engineering skills where auto sector is key part as it is one of the pillars of engineering sectors.
“We have to learn to face competition and design a product which will be world class and will be able to sell. Even globally the dynamics are changing where the China factor is very important as they are producing goods at low prices and fairly good quality,” said the Prime Minister adding, “We have to either use their technique or do better to provide competitiveness.”
He said the Pakistan economy has shown significant progress for the last six years and if the people put their minds to it they have enough capacity to fill that space in skillful manner. The new Pakistan, which is being talked about is doing very well in the economic field providing engineering sector a growth of 15 percent, agriculture 5 percent and 7 plus percent growth in GDP.
The Prime minister assured that next year it is going to be more exciting as Pakistan sees the emergence of middle class that is clearly depicted from the use of mobiles where the jump has been from 50,000 to 9 million subscribers within a very short time. The production of cars has taken leapfrog from 30,000 to 140,000 within a period of 3 years only. The number of motorbikes that came on the roads have jumped from 150,000 to 0.5 million and is continuously rising. He pointed out that as the middle class grows the economy grows and the country is benefited as there is liquidity in the market.
Describing government policies for the engineering sector the Prime Minister said the development is reflected from the fact that it is assisting in broadening the horizons for competing the automobile industry effectively. This has allowed the industrialists to build a base for the related industries where hundreds of vendors and auto-parts manufacturers have grown all over the country. “The government has also chalked out a comprehensive assembly and deletion program which will continue to provide a launching pad for engineering goods. To further develop the area we have pragmatic and realistic approach but we have to be competitive,” he added.
He advised the industrialists not to build their industries behind high walls of tariff walls but they will be protected against any onslaught by the government from the competition, which is unfair.
The Prime Minister held the recent show by Pakistan at the Hanover Messe where a large delegation of businessmen headed by the Federal Minister for Production and Special Initiatives Jehangir Khan Tareen. Pakistan was represented as an effective, credible and serious clear player in the engineering business. He hoped that such representation would continue to elevate image of Pakistan abroad.
Talking about new projects in the country the Prime Minister mentioned the recent foundation laying ceremonies in Chakwal where in one day an investment of 0.5 billion dollars was made within five kilometers. That was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that such a large investment came in one day where 3 cement plants, one gas project and other projects had started. He revealed that 50,000 persons will get jobs as a result of the new projects and 4,000 trucks will be deployed for cement and raw material for the area. He also mentioned the setting up of a tractor plant by renowned company John Deere who were excited to start their business in Pakistan. The capacity of caustic soda plant will be raised from 2 million tons a day to 4 million tons a day while Rs. 5 billion will be invested in a new state of the art textile factory, he added.
He made it very clear that the government is striving for a strong economy, strong defence, strong security and a strong political process, which are the components of a rich and strong nation.
“We have a long distance to go but this will give Pakistan ability to reach its true potential and that is what we want to give our countrymen and next generation,” the Prime Minister asserted.
He said according to estimates by 2010 there will be demand for 400,000 cars and by 2015 0.5 million cars will be required to meet the growing demand that clearly depicts the pace of Pakistan’s economy and participation of middle and upper class. People are now looking for other sources for earning money rather than the traditional means for investment channels.
To curb car snatching the Prime Minister said the government is vetting a law which will force the manufacturers of automobiles to install trackers in the factories to provide much needed protection against car thefts.

US tractor builder to set up plant in Pakistan

Staff Report

LAHORE: The Agro Tractors (Pvt) Ltd (ATL) has signed an agreement with John Deere, the US-based world leader in agriculture industry, for assembling and progressive manufacturing of tractors in Pakistan.

Addressing a joint press conference on Wednesday, M. Gibran Khan, CEO ATL and Wayne A. Haughton, managing director John Deere Asia said, the agreement has been made to capture the growing demand for agriculture machinery, particularly tractors in the country. The capacity of the factory would be 15,000 tractors per annum with a provision of further expansion. The factory has been set up near Lahore and would launch its production on Thursday (today).

“The tractors would be state of the art and technologically more advanced in every department than locally produced models offered in Pakistan,” said Gibran Khan and added that the joint venture for setting up the tractors’ manufacturing factory would be invested Rs 600 million.

In addition to tractors, the joint venture has also planned to introduce combine harvesters to cater to a growing demand, he added. According to him, the ATL would establish over 50 dealerships across the country including five to six outlets owned by the company. “After inauguration of this factory, the total tractors production would across 60,000 mark by the next few years.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Haughton said the John Deere get Pakistan as the fastest-growing market in the region. According to him, the John Deere had 47 manufacturing facilities across the world and Pakistan would be the 48th country. “John Deere has over 200 tractor models and we hope for a very strong demand in Pakistan market,” he said.

Responding to a query, he also agreed that the John Deere would also provide training to Pakistani vendors to enable them to work with the plant jointly set up by the ATL and the John Deere.

Aziz for mechanising agriculture

* Inaugurates construction work at tractor assembly plant
* Says GDP target may rise to five percent
* Tractors to be available on lease
* Estimates wheat production at 22m tonnes

Staff Report

SHEIKHUPURA: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday stressed the need to mechanise agriculture in Pakistan to successfully meet the challenges emerging from globalisation.

Addressing the ground-breaking for a tractor assembly plant near Maniara bypass, the prime minister said the government was taking several measures to develop the country. “The government is strengthening the agriculture sector, the backbone of the country’s economy, to benefit small farmers,” he said. He said the economy was growing at a fast pace because of the government’s business-friendly policies and several incentives were being introduced to attract investment.

Aziz said it was a landmark day in Pakistan’s history because the ground-breaking for a tractor manufacturing factory was being held in a rural area. He said agriculture was the lifeline of the 60 percent of the population living in rural areas and produced 26 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). He said the government was focusing on ways of increasing income of the agriculture sector.

He said the GDP target for the current year which was fixed at four percent might rise to five percent because of the government’s scientific and determined approach.

The prime minister said cotton production had been estimated at 15 million bales this year while the production of wheat would be close to 22 million tonnes. He said the rural economy had started to show positive trends where demand for various items was rising. “This trend vindicates the fact that rural sector is absorbing more and more production which is a good sign to bridge the gap between the rural and urban populations. It will help stamp out unemployment in rural areas and discourage migration to urban areas.”

Aziz said tractors would now be available on leasing to meet their ever-increasing demand. “The setting up of a new tractor manufacturing factory by John Deere Company will be an excellent addition in this regards.”

He stressed the need to develop livestock, fisheries and dairies. Later, the prime minister unveiled a plaque at the construction site.

Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Sikander Hayat Khan Bosan and Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Jehangir Khan Tareen also attended the ceremony.

Mini Chevrolet Car Plant Planned in Pakistan
Pakistan Times Business & Commerce Desk



ISLAMABAD: Nexus Automotive (Pvt) Ltd on Tuesday announced introduction of Chevrolet mini-cars of 800 and 1000 cc at cheaper and competitive prices in Pakistan.

The company has planned to progressively manufacture the cars in three phases over a period of 18 months. General Motors is fully committed to provide appropriate technical support to this project.

This was announced at a press conference jointly addressed by M.A. Razzaq, the Chairman of NEXUS who retired as Corporate Vice President of General Motors Corporation, USA in 1999 and Omar A. Balubaid, the owner of NEXUS with an annual turnover of over one billion Saudi Riyals.

Razzaq said during the next 18 months, we will begin the process of locally manufacturing of selected components, to prepare the Ghandhara Assembly plant for the installation of assembling machinery and tooling, and to select most suitable dealers for the distribution of Chevrolet throughout the country.

New Jobs

He said "we expect to create about 1000 new jobs upon the completion of these three phases by mid-2005".

Medium and long term plans call for the building of a new and technically modern assembly plant in a suitable location with an estimated investment of US $ 45 to 50 million, he added.

This plant will be designed to assemble, not only a small car, but add other suitable cars and trucks that would meet the customers' expectations.

NEXUS is organised under the laws of Pakistan. It will be owned by Omar A Balubaid Co. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Razzaq sons. Majority of the capital investment will come from abroad.

Backdrop

The company has automotive franchises of General Motors of USA, Peugeot of France, Daihatsu and Subaru of Japan respectively and it owns several modern and large Shopping Malls and Amusement Centers in Jeddah and Makkah respectively.

M.A Razzaq said Chevrolet mini-car of 800 and 1000cc engines respectively is planned to be progressively manufactured in Pakistan in three phases over a period of 18 months.

He said General Motors is fully committed to provide appropriate technical support to this Project.

Over the past 2 years considerable work has been done to carry out the market research and competitive analyses to determine the market demand, he added.

Joint Venture

The NEXUS Automotive (Pvt) Ltd is a partnership between a Saudi and Pakistani families on a 50/50 ownership basis, he said adding "We anticipate to assemble a small Chevrolet car in the Ghandhara Car Plant in Port Qasim to utilize their idle
capacity".

This phase will require an investment of approximately 15 million US dollars. We are in the process of hiring new employees for our new company as well as identifying local component manufacturers who would qualify to supply this car as many as possible locally manufactured components, he added.

GM-Chevrolet will provide the appropriate support to all concerned to ensure that the local components and the car assembled here meet GM Quality standards and customer expectations, he said.

Locally assembled Chevrolet by Dec

By Rizwan Razi

LAHORE: Nexus Automotive Ltd (NAL) is all set to roll out its locally assembled model of General Motor Corporation (GM)’s Chevrolet by the end of 2005.

The US auto giant has agreed to extend its franchise and local assembling permission to one of its former employees, Muhammad Abdul Razzaq, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAL.

"We have already acquired assembly line of Gandhara Nissan at Karachi where the same 1,000cc car will be assembled with 80 per cent quality standard for the first time in the country for domestic customers," said Muhammad Abdul Razzaq while speaking to The News.

He said that his company had planned to invest $15 million for equipping the assembling facility with proper machinery.

He claimed that after 30 years of service with GM he retired as Corporate Vice President and at the time of retirement, he was controlling the company’s business worth $33 billion out of overall business of $220 billion.

Being the mastermind behind establishment of GMC’s overseas assembling facilities at China, Thailand and India, Abdul Razzaq was confident of establishing the same over here in Pakistan.

Despite the fact that a vendor takes at least two years to establish a new part right from drawing to engineering and finishing, Razzaq claimed to utilise locally manufactured parts in Chevrolet as much as available from domestic vendors.

I have told at a recently held Vendors’ Conference at Karachi, that our company may take as much as seventy per cent parts, should these parts meet quality and in time delivery standards set by the company, he said while replying a question about localisation of the GMC vehicle.

He said that after the rejection of Pakistan’s request for seeking extension in deletion programme, country’s automotive sector has started blinking at the global auto horizon.

He said that initially his company is planning to introduce 1000cc vehicle as demand and growth in this sector has been enormous.

However, we would introduce model in other capacities like 800cc or Optra later on in due course of procedure.

He said that currently his company is importing the same car.

However, he declined to comment regarding performance of his sole distributors, whose dealership has already been cancelled by him after assuming the directly marketing of the imported vehicles.

Iron ore production: Get technology from China not India: govt

By Imran Ayub

KARACHI: The federal government has restrained local steel industry from acquiring technology from India and asked them to explore China to get required techniques in iron ore production.

In a meeting with local steel industrialists, higher officials of the ministry of industry and production appeared unsatisfied with the increasing cooperation between Indian and Pakistani industrialists.

“The ministry has suggested us to explore Chinese steel industry to acquire technology,” said one of the steel producers who attended the meeting. “The ministry did not deny us NOC (no-objection certificate) to sign business deals with the Indian industry but it is not preferring to have Indian technology.”

He said the ministry’s concern was based on quality as the iron ore production in Indian relied on old technologies compared to China, along with steel industry revitalisation in Russia and Brazil.

The federal industry and production ministry recently called a meeting of the local steel industrialists, who visited India last month in a bid to increase cooperation with neighbouring country’s industry and place import orders for steel production units’ equipment.

The members of the country’s seven steel mills mainly from Lahore, Gujranwala and Karachi visited Indian state of Chhattisgarh - hub of Indian steel production and exports. The Pakistani delegation comprises representatives from Mughal Steel, Star Steel, Abdullah Steel, Sonef Steel, Fazal Steel and Qadri Steel.

During their stay in India, the 16-member Pakistani delegation, representing different steel re-rolling mills and production companies, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian counterparts and placed orders to import $102 million equipment from the neighbouring country.

However, now its seems the local steel millers have failed to get the authorities’ nod to set up new production plants in Pakistan with Indian technology.

“Now the ministry has chalked out a plan to study and explore Chinese industry,” one of the steel mills’ representatives said after the meeting. “We have planned two visits of different people belonging to industry and the concerned ministry to China next month after that we would be in position to determine something about the technologies of the two (China and India) countries.”

He said the ministry did not question the local mills’ equipment import deals with the Indian producers and its supplies would remain intact as per the agreement signed last month.

“Total seven mills signed deals with the Indian producers and suppliers,” he added. “The six Pakistani companies signed MoU with India’s BK Engineering to import equipment and instruments while the Raipur Alloys would supply 1,000 metric tonnes of ferro manganese to the seventh Pakistani company.”

The country consumes over four million tonnes of steel every year but its production stands below three million tonnes. The rest of the demand is met through imports from the Europe, South Africa and South America.

The millers after visiting India believe it has opened new avenue of steel and equipment imports for the country, currently relied only on few countries.

“Our total steel is much below than four million tonnes a year,” said a local steel miller, who visited India last month. “But at the same time India’s Chhattisgarh state alone produces 8.7 million tonnes of steel and iron a year. This can help us a lot.”

Alif cab car gets export orders

KARACHI: The manufacturer of Alif cab car, the Transmission Motor Company (TMC), has secured export orders from Bangladesh, Sudan, Egypt and Madagaskar.

According to a press release on Friday, chief executive officer TMC, Fasih H Agha, speaking at the Autoparts Exhibition (PAPS) 2005, said the TMC had appointed distributors in these four countries while Chile and Qatar have also placed export orders for Alif cars.

He said the company, a subsidiary of the Transmission Engineering Industries Ltd (TEIL), had a production capacity of 5000 cars per annum, which could be doubled, if needed. TEIL was also exporting gears and axils to a very high demanding and high performance parts market of USA, he added. “We have technical collaboration with a Chinese firm, which is providing 33 percent of components, while we are locally manufacturing 67 percent of them,” Mr Agha said. He said the green cab scheme had received a good response from rickshaw-owners and they were placing orders. He said Alif with the 200 cc engine was much cheaper than a rickshaw and environment-friendly too.

New players enter car market




By Aamir Shafaat Khan

KARACHI, Sept 17: The Pakistani car market, dominated by Japanese car assemblers, is now undergoing changes, as some more local businessmen have ventured into the car assembly in collaboration with China to carve a niche in the overheated car market.

Car leasing and bank financing have changed the parameters of the car market in recent years. The demand has outstripped supplies by a vast margin. To cope with the situation, the government has liberalized car imports (used and new) in the last one year. Perhaps, the new players sensed the potential in the market and decided to cash their luck by rolling out cheaper cars.

It is to be seen how far these new entrants will shake up the domination of the old players. Will they be able to match the quality of Japanese brands at such low prices? What are their market strategies to lure prospective buyers who now appear to own a new car at any cost?

Consumers have seen the entry of cheap Chinese assembled and imported Chinese bikes in the last two years. Their popularity can be witnessed on the roads as they now run side by side with Japanese assembled bikes. Because of cheap price factor, the end-users are more interested in buying a Chinese bike despite knowing the fact that they are compromising on the quality. Will the episode be repeated in case of cars?

A local company — Transmission Motor Company Private Limited — is a wholly subsidiary of Transmission Engineering Industries Limited (TEIL), listed company in Karachi and Lahore Stock Exchanges, has introduced a cheaper cars to bridge the gap between motorcycle and 800cc car.

TEIL has invested Rs40 million in TMC which has technical collaboration with Chinese companies (vehicle and main assemblies’ manufacturers). Many variants of local car, being produced in Pakistan, are also available in China. However, TMC Alif car, Bay pickup and Bay delivery van have been modified and improved according to the local needs, roads and weather conditions.

With 200cc four stroke water cooled engine, these versions can run 25 km in a litre. If CNG is fitted - it gives 70 paisa per km.

Chief Executive Officer of TMC, Fasih Hussain Agha told Dawn that the company has created a new segment between a bike and an 800cc car. Bike lovers can now a good option to have a cheaper car.

He said the cab is cost effective than rickshaws. The government aims to phase out two stroke vehicles gradually and thus encouraging alternative vehicles running on CNG as a replacement.

To a query whether the low engine power can handle the load of four passengers, he said the vehicle has undergone endurance test running 20,000 km on Karachi roads with rated payload of 300 kg or four persons. The vehicle has a top speed of 75 km/h and the engine has adequate torque to climb mountains, he claimed.

Despite intense competition with Japanese car makers as well as imported cars, Fasih said, “our vehicles have created a new market segment. It is actually not competing with any existing cars.”

At the start, the deletion level is 67 per cent, which would be increased to 90 per cent in five years, ensuring locally available spare parts, he said.

The plant has installed capacity of 5,000 vehicles per annum on eight-hour single shift basis. The CEO claimed that the company has booked export orders to six countries from Asia, Africa and South America.

Another local player has claimed to have launched first national car called Revo a month back

The chairman and chief executive of Adam Motors, Feroz Khan claims that with its car production, Pakistan has really earned a distinction of joining the exclusive club of 15 of such car manufacturing countries.

On an assumption that Revo is a Chinese assembled car, he says that “engine and transmission is the only sub assemblies imported from China. The starting deletion level in the car is 67.5 per cent and it will reach to 90 per cent plus by December 2007,” he added.

On technology transfer, he said his company has designed this car from basic styling to completion. This is a factual position.

He said the car has longer wheel base, wider in tread width, bigger in trunk space than immediate competitors. All the tooling, jigs and fixtures are brand new.

The price of Revo is tagged at Rs269,000 (Rs44,000 lesser than Mehran) while 1,050cc car is priced at Rs434,000 compared to Santro’s price of Rs600,000. However, Revo price is slightly lower than Alto and Cultus but the main difference is the electronic fuel injection technology which the new entrant offers as against Suzuki in the same category of engine capacity.

He claimed that if the taxes and duties, paid to the government, which come close to Rs69,000, then the car is actually priced at Rs 200,000.

The car is being built at an assembly plant where heavy investment has been made in jigs, fixtures, moulds and dyes. The company has created approximately 1,000 new jobs. It has 70 vending companies supplying parts, he said.

The installed capacity of the plant was 15,000 cars per year. However, the company would produce 5,000 cars per annum, Feroz said.

On the quality of car, he said that he had launched the product after an extensive research and development of five years. The car has been tested over 16,000 kms and consultants, that have tested German cars, have also tested this car.

Another player in the local market Pakistan Cherry Automobile (pvt) Limited is coming up next year in local production of CherryQQ cars in collaboration with Chinese partners.

Initially, the company is bringing up completely built up (CBU) units in Pakistan. The first batch of cars will arrive in the first week of October 2005.

Director Operations, Pakistan Cherry Automobile, Asad Wahid said the company would introduce the entire line of Cherry automobiles in Pakistan which include the 1600cc executive sedan named the Flag Cloud, the 1900 cc diesel luxury Saloon codenamed A-21 and the 2400 cc 4x4 high performance SUV named the ‘Tiggo’ which stands for ‘TIGER’ when translated into English.

He said initially eight cars as sample had already arrived in Pakistan. These vehicles had been extensively and exhaustively tested under the most severe and harsh conditions of Pakistan and had been driven up to the Punjab border from Karachi in simmering 40+ degree climatic conditions. The Chery ‘QQ’ is priced at Rs 489,000.

He anticipated that work on the assembly plant would start by the end of 2006 at Port Qasim, thus bringing foreign investment of $40 million on a joint venture basis between the two companies. This would be the first joint venture project of this magnitude in Pakistan between Pakistan and China in the passenger automobile sector.

He said that this project would create direct employment for up to 5,000 people besides creating indirect jobs for many people and families with the setting up of vending industry, dealership network, etc.

Asad said as soon as the Chery CKD plant would become operational, the company would move aggressively towards capturing the potentially lucrative markets of Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics.

First exhibition of telecom equipment makers

KARACHI: Engineering Develop-ment Board (EDB) in collaboration with Pakistan Telecom Manufacturers Associa-tion (PTMA) is holding first-ever exhibition of local telecom equipment manufacturers.

“The Telecom Engineering 2005, an exhibition of telecom equipment manufacturers being held in Islamabad on September 26 and 27, will focus on supporting the expansion of the local telecommunication industry,” said a statement issued on Friday. “With the rapid growth of the telecommunication industry there was a need in the market to showcase a large and powerful exhibition that would bring together all the major players on one platform,” said the statement quoting Mohammad Shamim, chairman PTMA as saying. He said the exhibition would bring the local telecom manufacturers closer to service providers and help such companies in developing business opportunities.

Imtiaz Rastgar, CEO EDB said the exhibition was to become a precedent for others to follow and gain from. “We have brought them to the forefront along with the service providers to offer them some recognition and impress upon the stakeholders that manufacturers are an integral and important part of the telecommunication industry.”

Japanese to invest $100m to set up steel plant

ISLAMABAD: Hasib Rehman, a Pakistani settled in Japan called on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the Prime Minister House on Tuesday and informed him that he is setting up a steel plant at the total cost of US$ 100 million which includes Japanese equity.

The investment is being made in response to the recent visit by the Prime Minister to Japan where he met various investors and leaders of trade and industry to attract investment into Pakistan.

According to an official statement, the Prime Minister said that the government would encourage foreign investments particularly from Japanese investors and is delighted that Japanese equity and investment has started coming into Pakistan.

The Prime Minister said that the government is pursuing continuity and consistency in economic policies based on deregulation and liberalization of economy.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?p...21-9-2005_pg5_8

Expatriate Pakistani to set up US$ 100 million Steel Plant
Tuesday September 20, 2005 (1507 PST)

ISLAMABAD: Hasib Rehman, a Pakistani settled in Japan called on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday and informed him that he is setting up a steel plant at the total cost of US$ 100 million which includes Japanese equity.
The investment is being made in response to the recent visit by the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to Japan where he met various investors and captain of trade and industry to attract investment in Pakistan.

The prime minister said that the government would encourage foreign investment particularly from Japanese investors and is delighted that Japanese equity and investment has started coming into Pakistan.

He reiterated that the government is pursuing continuity and consistency in economic policies based on deregulation and liberalization of economy.

"No discrimination is made among investors and here are no restrictions as Pakistan is an open economy providing level playing field to all investors", he added.

Hasib Rehman said that his company has Japanese equity and the steel plant will manufacture steel sheets which are an important raw material for engineering industry and he added that availability at reduced price would make the engineering industry more competitive.

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=119766

Body formed for seeking advice on Steel Policy

ISLAMABAD, September 19 (Online): The Industries and Production ministry has constituted a committee to seek proposals from stakeholders before finalizing new steel policy likely to be announced in December.
Informed sources told Online news agency on Sunday that ministry was in the process of preparing the draft steel policy to facilitate the private sector's participation in the growth of steel sector.

Sources said the draft policy would be circulated to various ministries for advice after completion, adding it would be presented to the Cabinet for approval in December.

They said steel policy would focus on the manufacturing sector and incentives would be announced to encourage private sector for investment in exploration of iron ore.

Sources said policy would help investors set up new steel plants in the country.

They will also be facilitated to give DRI plants in the country that will enable the private sector to utilize the iron reservoirs of 85 billion tons in the country," they added.

Steel sector is relying heavily on the imported raw material that causes high cost of steel production in the country.

Experts believe exploration of the domestic reservoirs of iron ore would help reduce the cost of production and meet the set target of 15 million tons of steel production for next ten years.

Pak encourages joint manufacturing of auto parts by Pak-Japanese companies: PM

Pakistan would be happy to encourage joint manufacturing of auto part parts by the Pakistanis and Japanese companies, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said this on Friday.
He also said with satisfaction that some of the Japanese firms and companies are buying parts from Pakistan and this fact testifies to their high quality.

He was talking to a four-member delegation of M/s Komastsu of Japan, headed by Mr Shun Ichi Ono, Vice President Overseas Marketing and General Manger Komatsu Ltd, which called on him at the Prime Minister house on Friday.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz further said that the construction and real estate sectors are lately witnessing accelerated growth in Pakistan as result of expansion in economic activities and there is a lot of scope for construction machinery in the country.

The Prime Minister also referred to the new development projects like roads and highways, airports, water reservoirs etc, which have created a great demand for quality products in construction and engineering sectors.

The visit of Komatsu delegation, it may be mentioned, is in response to the invitation extended to them during Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visit to Japan this year and firm is currently engaged in conducting a survey to identify items which it can import from Pakistan in these sectors." This supports our belief that Pakistan can serve as a manufacturing hub for the region, observed the Prime Minister.

He also said that our industrial policy lays emphasis on diversifying the base and Engineering Development Board is actively engaged in facilitating new investment. He said that auto parts industry is rapidly growing in Pakistan as the country is producing a nearly half million motorcycles and 1150 thousand cars annually.

He said that the Engineering Development Board which has recently been reconstituted is here to ensure the quality of the manufactured products.

The Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also informed the delegation that the government is focusing on vocational training and skill development in the country in order to facilitate imparting of technical training. This would be, he said; also help create new jobs opportunities in various fields.

Mr Shun Ichi Ono said that M/S Komatsu is keen to expand business in Pakistan and commended the recent growth in economy, which he said would ultimately benefit all segments of the people.

Dr Hafeez Sheikh, Minister for Privatization and Investment and Japanese Ambassador in Pakistan were also present on the occasion.

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=119365

Germany offers joint venture in locomotives manufacturing
RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD (September 22 2005): Germany on Wednesday offered Pakistan joint venture in manufacturing of locomotives and refurbishing of German coaches. The offer was made to federal Railways Minister Mian Shamim Haider by Voith Turbo Locomotives Managing Director Hinrich Krey who along with his team met him in the Railways Ministry.

A high-level delegation of manufacturers of hydrodynamic locomotives is in Pakistan since September 18. This is the second visit of the German delegation. The first one was in April this year.

A subsequent visit by the federal minister for railways took place in July where he observed the facilities of Voith and partner Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) vehicle competence centre in Cottbus.

The visiting delegation is holding series of meetings with Pakistani railway authorities. The officials also visited Risalpur Locomotive Factory on September 20.

They also visited Pakistan Carriage Factory, Islamabad on Wednesday and discussed the possibilities of a joint venture for manufacturing of locomotive and refurbishing of German coaches with adoption of latest technology and transfer of technical expertise. The delegation assured Pakistan Railways of assisting to set up research and design facilities.

Speaking on the occasion, Shamim Haider lauded the generous gesture of German Voith for providing co-operation in development of Pakistan Railways' capabilities for manufacturing and upgradation of locomotives and coaches. The minister hoped that the co-operation between Pakistan Railways and Germany would go a long way in exploring new business avenues, especially for international connectivity on the Trans Europe and Trans Asian Rail network.

Local assembling of Chevrolet 1000cc by Dec

KARACHI: Nexus Automotive announced on Friday that it would begin locally assembling Chevrolet 1000 cc products in Pakistan in early December.

“The company is targeting assembly of 4,000 mini-cars in its first full year of production,” said Muhammad Razaq, chairman and chief executive officer of Nexus Automotive on Friday. He said production would gradually be ramped up to 8,000 vehicles per annum by 2010 in line with market demand.

The $15 million program was expected to create approximately 450 jobs in manufacturing, administration, distribution and sales, he added. The locally built mini-car, which has been available in Pakistan since 2003 as an import, would go on sale by the end of the year at Nexus Automotive’s nationwide network of 10 dealers.

He said in addition to the locally supplied components, 1000 cc car would be assembled in Karachi from subsystems supplied by the Korean unit, GM Daewoo Auto and Technology (GM Daewoo). GM Daewoo is overseeing the installation of machinery, instituting advanced manufacturing processes, monitoring startup of production and carrying out training of local personnel at its facilities in Korea. Nexus Automotive is a1000 cc car importer and progressive manufacturer of GM products in Pakistan. It imports Chevrolet vehicles and markets them nationally through its franchised dealer network. In addition to the 1000 cc car, Nexus Automotive also offers the Chevrolet Optra sedan.

Govt launches two projects for preparing tools, moulds and dyes for vehicles
Tuesday October 04, 2005 (1610 PST)

ISLAMABAD: Government has launched two projects under ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiatives aimed at preparing the tools, moulds and dyes for the vehicles on the domestic level in the engineering sector to the tune of Rs 1 billion collectively, a high-level official told Online here on Tuesday.
He said that two projects cost Rs 500 million each and these projects would be completed within one to two years. He further said that government is taking all initiatives to promote the engineering sector and this step would help gear up the engineering sector.

He said that these tools had to be imported from Taiwan earlier and these projects would help avoid the import and meet the domestic needs of the engineering sector in the country.

He added that government was to announce the new Auto policy, steel policy, and SME policy in the month of December that would result in the promotion of the auto sector.

These policies would not only help in bringing down prices of the vehicles, but also give a boost to the industry and would safeguard interests of all stakeholders.

About Rs 116 billion will be invested in auto industry by 2006, this would create employment opportunities in the country. New vending and assembling plants are being set up in the country.

Production of vehicles in the country has increased to 0.2 million per annum from 50,000 four years ago and it is expected to go up to 0.5 million vehicles per annum.

The government has relaxed import policy, especially permission to import automobiles under the Gift Scheme, which would improve the supply position by the end of this year.

It will also help in reducing the prices in the local market. The government is planning on long-term basis. Automobile industry here has achieved 50-60 percent deletion and is ready to compete in the international market, he added.

Faster growth in vending industry had enabled the local automobile sector to achieve expansion in capacity as well as indigenisation.

Auto industry was taking measures to get rid of the menace of 'on-money' (premium for early delivery) from automobile business in the country, while supply of vehicles would be increased after six months as all assemblers were expanding their production capacity.

Automotive parts and accessories manufacturers are clearly heading towards the growth of industry and committed to double investment by 2010 from the current investment volume of Rs 116 billion to Rs 240 billion.

TDM centre team leaves for Singapore

Staff Report

LAHORE: A seven- member delegation, led by the Chairman executive committee of the Tools, Dies and Moulds Centre (TDM), Karachi, Munir K Bana, left for Singapore on Friday on the first leg of their tour of Southeast Asia.

The team, comprising the country’s leading technopreneurs, will visit TDM centres in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea in a bid to have first-hand knowledge about the state-of-the-art technologies in the field of tool and dies and moulds making.

The Chairman of Technology Upgradation and Skill Development Company (TUSDEC), Almas Hyder, will also accompany the delegation during its visit to Singapore and Malaysia.

“We want to benefit from the Southeast Asian experience while establishing the country’s first TDM project in Karachi,” Mr Bana said before leaving for Singapore, according to a press release issued by TUSDEC here on Friday.

He said the delegation would use this opportunity to meet Southeast Asian consultants in this vital field of engineering sector to seek their input for the development of a strategy to promote the tools, dies and mould sector in Pakistan.

Talking about the Rs 450 million TDM centre Karachi project, Mr Bana said the TDM centre would provide training and consultancy services to Pakistan’s engineering sector.

“In the long term, it will provide manufacturing services to the engineering industry,” he said.

Mr Bana said the centre would launch full-fledged technical courses for fresh engineering graduates. To begin with, he said, the TDM centre Karachi would launch classes in the fields of Computer-aided Designing (CAD), Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAM) and Computer-aided Engineering (CAE).

The TDM centre project being set up by TUSDEC in 10 months would provide support to the country’s dies and mould sector in carrying out rapid prototyping through latest technologies such as stereolithograpy, selective LASER Sintering and Rapid Tooling along with support for CAD/CAM and CNC machining. The Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation has provided two acres of land a piece in Korangi, Karachi, for the project.

The expected beneficiaries of the TDM centre are to be telecom, automobiles, medical devices, home appliances, aviation and dies and moulds manufacturing sectors.

Any news on SEA ME WE 4? They said its going to up in November 2005.

Last time i checked, the taj mahal hotel is better known as Regents Hotel now! The one on Sharah-e-Faisal!