ISLAMABAD: Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday announced that electric buses will operate in Pakistan from this year.

“From this year, electric buses will start running in Pakistan, and in three years, these buses will start being completely manufactured in Pakistan,” he said at a signing ceremony for the Strategic Alliance Agreement between Daewoo Express and Skywell Automobile, China, to which he was invited as a guest speaker.

Under the agreement, an electrical vehicles value chain will be set up in Pakistan.

“There is a lot of fog in Lahore due to pollution, mostly from vehicular emissions that make people sick. Prime Minister Imran Khan is working to eliminate environmental pollution. Pakistan will be the first country in South Asia to run electric buses,” Mr Chaudhry said at the event.

He added: “Energy is our problem. Most of the global pollution comes from transport. If we introduce two-wheel and three-wheel electric vehicles, a lot of air pollution can be controlled.”

Mr Chaudhry criticised the lack of attention given to the Ministry of Science and Technology in the past. He also praised Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam and Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul for their contributions to improving the environment. Mr Chaudhry also called drones with monitoring capabilities the ‘new revolution’ in agriculture.

At the event, Pakistan was recognised as one of the countries most affected by climate change, where the transport sector contributes more than 40pc to air pollution.

Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwala spoke at the ceremony about the importance of phasing out heavy reliance fossil fuels in the transport sector and the energy sector.

“Car and bus manufacturers need to come forward now. About 20 to 30pc of their production should be electric vehicles,” he said.

Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said that the governments and peoples of the two countries were working together on the path of development.

“We also want to involve the private sector in the Pakistan-China partnership. The government is putting Pakistan in the direction that the country needs. The government of Pakistan is providing facilities to the private sector for the development of B2B ventures. Power plants are also being set up under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor by both the countries to overcome power shortage,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2020