December 20, 2002	Friday	Shawwal 15, 1423

ISLAMABAD, Dec 19: Industries and Production Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi said here on Thursday that automobile industry has promised to increase its production to meet the increasing demand of cars.

“I have been assured by the concerned people in automobile industry that they will increase the production even if they have to work in double shifts,” he added.

Briefing newsmen, he said he had a detailed meeting with the members of a delegation comprised the representatives of automobile industry of Pakistan. It was a high-level meeting in which the representatives of all major automobile companies of the country, including Toyota Indus Motors, Honda Atlas Motors, Suzuki Motors, Dewan Farooq Hyundai Motors, Raja Group and Gandhara Nissan Motors were present. He said members of the delegation apprised him of their problems and concerns.

“Our first target is to attract more investment in the industrial sector, local as well as foreign investment. This increased industrialization will lead to more direct and indirect jobs, thus improving the overall economic situation of the country,” he said.

He said he had assured the representatives of automobile industry that healthy policies were being formulated by his ministry to improve the investment climate.

The minister said automobile industry was contributing a lot towards the overall betterment of the country’s economy by creating opportunities of employment, support business and contribution towards national exchequer, which the government realized and appreciated.

He said there were many problems faced by the consumers to acquire new vehicles from the industry. “The major problem is high prices of the vehicles and delay in delivery of the vehicles.”

Mr Jatoi said there were many reports that the middlemen was benefiting for the vehicles. “The middleman usually places bulk of orders with the manufacturers, which creates a great demand, thus raising the prices artificially. The consumer is made to pay from Rs100,000 to Rs150,000 extra to get an early delivery.”

Talking about the increased sale of automobiles in the country recently, the minister asked the manufacturers to share this extra income with the customers too. “This can be done by reducing the prices of the automobiles,” he said.

He said he had asked the automobile manufacturers to reintroduce the old system where the company had to pay mark-up to the booking consumer if it was not able to deliver the vehicle even after two months of the full payment.

The minister also stressed the need for increasing production to meet the rising demand. He asked the manufacturers of automobiles to make sure that the genuine customers having orders of single vehicle, get a prioritized delivery. The people placing bulk orders of 10-20 and/or more vehicles are usually the middlemen trying to create an artificial rise in demand, thus charging extra amount for the delivery of vehicles and they must be discouraged.

Mr Jatoi said the government was doing every effort to encourage the local industry to create more direct, and indirect jobs, saving of foreign exchange and more economic activity.

“This is the reason the government has decided to discourage the import of second-hand cars to save the local industry as well as foreign exchange,” he added.