LAHORE, April 19: Industries and Production Minister Jehangir Tareen says Pakistan is now being considered by the German engineering companies as a destination for relocating their engineering industry. Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, the minister, who has recently returned from Hannover, Germany, after participating in an engineering fair, said earlier Germans were relocating their engineering industry to India and China. “Now Pakistan is also figuring in their plans due to heavy participation of Pakistani companies in the Hannover fair.”

He said a German engineering company was already transferring its machine shop to Pakistan under an agreement with a local company. The machine shop, he said, was worth Rs800-900 million and would boost manufacturing of capital goods in Pakistan.

He said 35 Pakistani exhibitors had received inquiries to the tune of $50-60 million. He said Pakistan could grow fast only by promoting its engineering industry. He said Pakistan would have to reduce its dependence on textile exports because textiles constituted only six per cent of the world trade as against 50 per cent share of the engineering industry.