KARACHI: After keeping production activities suspended from Jan 2-6, Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PSMCL) has extended plant shutdown from Jan 9-13 due to a continued shortage of imported parts and accessories.

In a stock filing on Friday, the company said the motorcycle plant would remain operative, however.

From August 2022 to date, PSMCL had kept its production activities closed for 30 days due to the State Bank of Pakistan’s restrictions for taking prior permission for imports including completely knocked-down (CKD) kits which had severely affected the clearance of consignments from the port causing parts and accessories shortages.

On the fate of employees because of persistent plant closure and plummeting sales of vehicles, a PSMCL official claimed that “so far no company’s employees have been terminated.”

Sales of Pak Suzuki fell by 35pc in 5MFY23 to 37,042 units from 57,200 in the same period last fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday expressed their concerns over the shutting down of operations by Millat Tractors for an indefinite period due to dwindling sales and held up sales tax refunds.

In a joint statement, PAAPAM Senior Vice Chairman Usman Aslam Malik and LCCI President Kashif Anwar observed that “we should save Pakistan first, then politics, before we reach the point of no return.”

Both leaders appealed to the government as well as the opposition parties to sit together and find ways to pull the country out of the crisis through dialogue.

They noted localisation as the sustainable solution to economic problems. We need to prioritise the deletion of import as the top priority and export as number two.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2023