Daily Times

Federal Minister for Industry and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain cut the ribbon at a ceremony arranged on the occasion of restart of the tractors export to Africa here at Millat Tractor Company on Monday.

The company’s Chief Executive Raheel Asghar and other top management of the company as well as the foreign guests were also present.

Addressing the ceremony, the Federal Minister said, “The process of exporting Pakistani tractors to different African countries has started again. I hope it will revive the sinking tractor manufacturing industry.” He said that the decision to export tractors to African countries would expedite the process of the tractor manufacturing industry and also ensure speedy agricultural development, thus setting the country’s economy on strong footing.

Rana Tanveer Hussain said that everyone knows that the biggest challenge facing Pakistan is the economy, however, the country’s economy will recover soon only through agricultural development. The present government has managed to save the country from default and ‘our goal is to revive the economy,’ he said, citing that from 2013 to 2017, Pakistan had been developing fast and afterwards, every sector had started declining due to the incompetent government that took over in 2018.

The Federal Minister mentioned that though the present government has taken difficult decisions, these would prove beneficial for the nation and the country, and everything will be fine in a year. “Agriculture will play an important role in the recovery of the economy and the government has given many incentives to the stakeholders of the agriculture sector, while the exports of rice and sesame have doubled. We have to find new markets because Pakistan’s agricultural products are in high demand at global level,” he maintained.

He said that there will be further improvements in tractor manufacturing and export of tractors to Africa will prove to be an important step, asserting that 90 percent local parts are being installed in the tractors as 400 companies are manufacturing tractor parts, and these companies should cluster here to manufacture parts. He disclosed that export of cars is also going to start and at first, cars will be exported to Bangladesh.

On this occasion, Raheel Asghar said that they want to export 10 percent of tractor production, adding that Pakistan has two major tractor manufacturing plants which use more than 90 percent locally manufactured components.

He added that sellers are not able to deliver tractors due to tax refund stoppage, asserting that tractor manufacturing industry is suffering due to non-refund of sales tax by FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) should solve problems of the tractor manufacturing industry on priority basis.

The government should also take more effective steps to solve the tractor industry’s problems, he added.