February 16, 2008	Saturday	Safar 08, 1429

RAWALPINDI, Feb 15: The first meeting of Auto Industry Development Committee (AIDC) was held here on Friday.

The committee has been constituted under Auto Industry Development Programme (AIDP) to formulate recommendations on the issues relating to World Trade Organistaion, investment, exports, trade policy, free trade agreements and other regulatory and administrative matters which may affect the growth and sustainable development of auto industry directly.

The 21-member committee composed of 12 members from the private sector and nine from the government. The committee also has the representation of car manufacturers, two to three wheelers, assemblers of truck, bus and tractor, vendors of sheet metal, plastic and rubber, casting, forging and machining, electrical and electronics.

Caretaker Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives Salman Taseer described the AIDP as a manifestation of private-public cooperation to face challenges of the future.

He said that the high economic and job multiplier of this industry and its deep forward and backward linkages in global context with special reference to Pakistan, had made the auto industry a key player in the economy. The speech of Mr Taseer, who was attending the ECC meeting, was delivered on his behalf by Abdul Hafeez Chaudhry, Additional Secretary in his ministry.

The caretaker minister acknowledged the dedication and hard work of Engineering Development Board (EDB) and the stakeholders in preparing the AIDP and hoped that the auto industry would successfully face future challenges and achieve sustainable development by becoming a global player.

Earlier, the EDB chief executive officer, in his address of welcome praised the strength and resilience of the auto industry in coping with the challenges of competitive environment. He said that the industry was moving towards achieving a critical mass of production, acquiring latest technology, improving human resources and attaining supply chain and global connectivity. Later, during the technical session, sub-committees on human resources development, technology acquisition support scheme, productive asset investment incentives, exports, auto cluster development, fiscal issue-indigenisation, and safety, quality and environment standards were formed.