Plan to boost engg goods export to $5bn

[Neo]

Plan to boost engg goods export to $5bn

Saturday, 24 Apr, 2010

Rizwan Qadri, a leading manufacturer and exporter of engineering goods, said that the country’s engineering products had good demand abroad due to their competitive prices - File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Representatives of the engineering industry will discuss with the policymakers the draft of National Engineering Export Development Strategy (Needs) here on Thursday.

The strategy was formulated with active participation and consultations with about 200 exporters in eight months by a working group. It comprised nominees of various segments of engineering industry and other stakeholders.

The Engineering Development Board (EDB) has estimated that Pakistan’s engineering goods exports have the capacity to hit the $5 billion mark in next five years. It said that Central Africa and Latin America were potential markets, which could be easily exploited and the country could get a large chunk out of more than $165 billion market.

Currently, Pakistan’s annual export of engineering goods stood at around $0.7 billion. However, there are bright prospects to increase exports provided the government allows necessary incentives.

Rizwan Qadri, a leading manufacturer and exporter of engineering goods, said that the country’s engineering products had good demand abroad due to their competitive prices but the industry needed the government support for a push on the export front.

A spokesman for the EDB, while explaining objectives of the strategy, said that the strategy was an endeavour to integrate Pakistan’s engineering industry with global value chain with all its backward and forward linkages.

It identifies barriers and challenges faced by the various sub sectors and the industry as a whole. The strategy covers 20 sub-sectors of the industry.

These include: Automotives and parts, home appliances, cutlery and hollow- ware, electrical machinery, metal fabrication, electronics, forging and casting, tractors, farm machinery, surgical and medical equipment, fans, pumps and motors, wires and cables etc.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/...-to-%245bn-440