Daily Times

KARCHI: Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) regretting the government’s decision of dissolving Engineering Development Board (EDB) has called for its revival for the survival of Rs 370 billion investment made in the auto sector of the country.

“The years upon years of the private-public partnership that was the EDB has been bearing fruit over the last several years. It is only now, after seeing the results of the work done by the EDB, new entrants find the market attractive enough to make their move”, said PAAPAM.

The body like EDB is vital in current emerging situation where new investment worth of $800 million is in the pipeline, and New players including Hyundai, Kia Motors, Volkswagen, Isuzu, Nissan, Renault etc are coming in the country, PAAPAM added.

EDB functions are very fundamental and the entity should be restored for the support of industrialization in Pakistan. If there were any discrepancies in the workings of the EDB, then the institution should have been reformed with a proper investigation. This dissolution without evidence is a disservice to the nation.

“EDB was the custodian of AIDP 2016-2021 (Auto Industry Development Plan). It oversees the implementation of various aspects of Auto policy and provides a one window operation for all aspects related to auto sector. Dismantling EDB will also make AIDP ineffective and unproductive and will make it impossible to achieve our industrial targets”, according to PAAPAM.

Moreover, EDB was giving expertise in implementation of various regulations including technical evaluation of CKD imports and verification of pre-requisites for claiming concessions allowed under ADP. Similarly, Audits and Records, approval of import items is a highly specialized function. It would take years for any other organization to develop the skills, expertise and experience available within EDB today.

“These are only few internal fronts on that EDB supported the auto industry. On the external fronts EDB had been the only government actor trying to work for the benefit of the industry when the rest of the government was trying to put forth policies that could destroy the industry. This is particularly true in case of the FTA negotiations with India (pushed by the government, but halted due to circumstances), China, and Thailand”, PAAPAM added.

Moreover, its functions including organizing Pakistan’s participation at specialized international engineering trade fairs, organizing trade delegations to potential markets, organizing local sectoral exhibitions for sectors having export potential, developing market expansion plan for engineering goods & services sector, disseminating information on export potential of local engineering companies (Export Directory), attending local exhibitions to identify potential engineering sectors/products, organizing training courses for the export-oriented industries and liaison with Commercial Councilors for the promotion of business networking of local business with foreign engineering companies, are pillars that helped grow the auto industry.

“The EDB has played a critical role in the development of the auto industry in Pakistan, and in PAAPAM’s view the EDB has always kept its focus on strengthening the engineering industrial base in Pakistan first and foremost. This singular focus of the EDB has as such been a great boon for the industrial sector in general, and the automotive industry in particular,” PAAPAM concluded.

Published in Daily Times, May 25^th 2018.