ISLAMABAD, Dec 27: Minister for Industries, Production and Special initiatives, Jehangir Khan Tareen, said on Tuesday that there was a need to increase the production of locally manufactured automobiles because the import of vehicles is disturbing the balance of payments.

The minister stated this at a meeting with Chairman Engineering Development Board (EDB) Waseem Haqqi and Chief Executive Officer of the board Imtiaz Rastgar, here today.

He said that the motorcycle sector presented a success story because of Chinese investment in this field. Some 0.6 million motorcycles were produced this year. Now “We are in a position to export motorbikes to countries like Nepal and Bangladesh,” he remarked.

The minister asked the EDB to focus on agriculture machinery because Pakistan was mainly an agricultural country and the agriculture machinery like tractors is in great demand.—APP