KARACHI, Feb 6: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the government attaches great importance to the growth and development of auto industry as it is a key driver of economic growth, technology transfer and a creator of jobs.

He was speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of production capacity expansion facilities of Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited here on Tuesday.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Jehangir Khan Tarin and Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Seji Kojimi were also present on the occasion.

Mr Shaukat said the expansion of Pak Suzuki’s production capacity to 150,000 vehicles per year was indeed laudable.

“Today I have visited Pak Suzuki’s plant and observed various products being manufactured and assembled under the supervision of dedicated engineers and trained workers on modern equipment and machinery,” the prime minister remarked.

He pointed out that automobile industry was playing a vital role in the economy and was rightly called the mother of all industries and the engine for growth.

“We have seen tremendous growth in the automobile industry due to private sector investment facilitated by supportive policies of our government,” he said.

The premier said that the government expected that the auto industry to position itself to become regional hub and a part of global supply chain by enhancing exports to the countries of the region.

The auto industry’s share in total manufacturing sector in 2005-06 was 16 per cent as compared to 6.7 per cent during 2001-02.

He said the challenges posed by globalisation, liberalisation and increasing competition required a strategic direction and policy framework for sustainable growth of the domestic automobile sector.

He pointed out that the auto industry had already switched over from deletion programmes to a transparent and competitive TBS environment and had now come up with a clearly spelt out tariff policy for at least five years and a support programme for its safe transition through a long term auto policy.

Mr Shaukat said that the government support and incentives would aim at increasing the scale of operations, expanding industry linkages and development of local vendors.

“These linkages will facilitate domestic industry in adopting best practice management, processes and procedures to deliver higher quality standards that are necessary in assessing international markets,” he added.

He said that efforts were underway to diversify the industrial base of the country and termed this as a major policy initiative of the government.

“This year Mashallah in the history of Pakistan will be one of the record years for the foreign direct investment,” the prime minister remarked.

He pointed out that for the first six months the country attracted $3 billion in FDI.—APP