PESHAWAR, May 8: Expressing his views about the lackadaisical approach of the Pakistan car assemblers and the negative posture of certain vested interests against the import of used cars, the NWFP Industries Minister Mohsin Aziz on Tuesday underscored the need of opening new avenues for industrialization in the province.

The minister said that car assemblers in Punjab and Sindh were enjoying incentives that ran into billion of rupees annually.

He said in spite of such astronomical incentives in the form of paying only 35 per cent duty on import of CKD major components merely to assemble those there, as against 200 per cent duty on import of car.

The car assemblers had failed either to achieve significant deletion in the past more than 12 years or could manage to reach a target when customers did not have to wait for up to six months for delivery of their cars.

In fact, he said, the deletion programme of these assemblers was no more than four per cent a year, which did not augur well for the real and worthwhile industrialization of Pakistan, a laisser-faire that in no way contributed to the economy or industrialization of Pakistan.

Instead, said he this approach did more harm than good because, like the lotus-eaters the car assemblers were dreamily contented as if the country was on the threshold of major industrialization.

He said, on top of sitting on top of the gold mines, the car assemblers further struck gold by demanding full price of a new car at the time of booking.

The minister pointed out that normal business practice allowed only 5-10 per cent down payment, the remaining was paid at the time of delivery.

While on the subject of unprecedented incentives given to the car assemblers of Punjab and Sindh, Mohsin Aziz passionately pointed out that if in monetary terms equivalent incentives of one car assembler were allowed to the NWFP it could usher in an era of industrialization in the province that would alleviate the miserable unemployment situation to a great extent.

He insisted that he was asking for monetary incentives to the NWFP equal to those given to a single industry of car assembly in Punjab and Sindh.

Reverting to the subject of import of used cars, the NWFP minister said that on the one hand, the car assemblers could not and did not meet the deletion target thereby causing colossal loss to the national exchequer in foreign exchange, while on the other hand, they were unwilling or unable to assemble sufficient number of cars to meet the local demand.

But what caused the minister the greatest anxiety was the obliviousness to the suffering of the common customers of cars, who neither had the means nor the time for a locally assembled expensive car, the minister was of the opinion that the lobby that had so far successfully blocked the import of used cars was doing a great disservice to the people and the government.

He said the arguments put forward by this lobby that used cars were not environmental friendly or that because of their age they would need grater import of spare parts were not found on facts. Used cars of up to five years, he maintained, should dispel those concerns, rather foreign assembled cars of such age had a distinct edge in performance and maintenance over locally assembled cars of later models.

As a proof, the NWFP minister quoted the example of industrially advanced and environmentally conscious countries where such used cars were to be seen in great numbers.

Mohsin Aziz disclosed that used cars sale and purchase was one of the major export earners for Dubai that had encouraged a healthy growth of ancillary trading activities besides. In addition, the business in used cars was earning a handsome amount in utility charges, he said.

The Minister emphasized that there would be no involvement of country’s foreign exchange if import of used cars was allowed. He said the private sector from its own resources in the form of foreign exchange repartition could manage such venture.

Pakistan had the potential to become a centre for the sale and purchase of used cars worth billions of dollars export annually; add to this the growth of ancillary trade activities, the advantage could be tremendous, he opined.

Besides, imported used cars would offer a healthy competition, price-wise and quality wise to the local car assemblers and contribute to the national exchequer in the form of customs duty, the minister maintained.

He said the biggest satisfaction would be that of the customers who could look forward to getting straight from the showroom better quality cars at affordable prices at a fraction of the locally assembled inferior quality cars.

The NWFP minister for industries concluded by requesting the government to look into these suggestions with due concern and magnanimity.

In particular the minister pointed out that those aspects of his suggestion should be given due consideration that raised the issue of earning huge customs duty on the import of used cars, the healthy competition of such cars would offer to the local car assemblers avoiding the money that was deposited on new cars out of circulation and its adverse effect on the national economy and encouraging the car assemblers to make extra efforts to achieve a respectable deletion target expeditiously.