Japan International Cooperation Agency is going to assist the automobile industry in order to enhance its domestic production from existing 200,000 cars by introducing new safety and environment-friendly features.
Moreover, JICA will also support in developing requisite regulations for the said new features and establishing inspection infrastructure for testing of new and used vehicles for safety of the consumers.
A delegation of JICA, headed by its Chief Representative Shigeki Furuta, called on Razak Dawood, Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Textile.
During the meeting, the JICA delegation talked about promotion of the auto sector and decrease in its sales due to heavy taxes recently imposed by the federal government, in addition to stricter regulations. Furthermore, the delegation deliberated upon the upgradation of automobile and textile industries of Pakistan in order to promote trade and investment.
The adviser to the PM informed the participants that the Auto Development Policy (2016-21) provided a uniform and consistent policy framework for the development of auto industry in Pakistan which offered vast opportunities for investments in the auto sector.
According to an official, periodical inspections after procurement and installation of security features also came under discussion.
Furthermore, a better business climate and supporting activities of Japanese automobile companies – Suzuki, Toyota and Honda – in Pakistan including the promotion of associated industries were discussed in the meeting.
Owing to the improvement of the investment regime in the country, Shigeki Furuta, ensured that JICA will provide assistance for the economic development of Pakistan.
Investment Opportunities in the Textile Sector:
Moreover, the adviser informed the delegation regarding enormous investment opportunities in upgrading the whole value chain of the textile sector, including ginning, spinning and knitting, as the textile manufacturers are using very old technology which has made them uncompetitive in the global textile market.
For that, he suggested, the Japanese government should create a fund, which could be used for the purchase of machinery by Pakistani textile manufacturers for the technological upgrades.
He further emphasized that Pakistan has upgraded its investment and business environment owing to its improved global ranking in Ease of Doing Business Index by 11 points.
He also added that Pakistan has taken various effective steps to improve trade procedures by establishing better trade facilitation regime.
