KARACHI: Eyeing to achieve $1 billion export target in the next five years, Pakistan's automobile parts manufacturers are gearing up to display their best engineering marvels in the upcoming Pakistan Auto Show 2019 to woo more than 100 foreign companies and their representatives, the organizers said on Monday.
“Our major focus is on the export side. We have invited 107 foreign companies and their representatives with major participation from China," Ashraf Shaikh, chairman of Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM), said at a press briefing in Karachi on Monday.
"Around 90 local companies, 18 other supporting institutions, including the armed forces, have also been invited to participate in the show,” he added.
The Pakistan Auto Parts Show (PAPS) 2019 will be held from April 12-14 at the Karachi Expo Center where the organizers expect more than 100,000 visitors -- both local and foreigners.
“The government has targeted $1 billion worth of vehicles and auto parts exports within the next five years which is a daunting task as compared to around $70 million export at present,” said Shaikh.
Attracted by the country's auto policy 2016-21, around 14 new vehicle assemblers have agreed to come to Pakistan out of which two -- KIA (Korean) and Changan (Chinese) -- will also display their vehicles at the show.
“Foreign companies from China, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea and Netherlands have also agreed to take part in the show. We want to open up to the world and want to benefit from the technological advancement,” Mashood Ali Khan, Head of the Organizing Committee of PAPS 2019 told Arab News.
“We would like to develop and strengthen our international relationships which have been made after years of work. Export Orientation will be the key to introducing new and upgraded technology,’ said Khan.
Pakistan’s domestic auto vending sector caters up to 70 percent of locally made parts for cars and light commercial vehicles, up to 94 percent for motorcycles, and 55 percent for heavy vehicles like buses. The overall investment in the sector is around Rs140 billion, according to PAAPAM’s data.
Pakistan’s car assemblers expect the demand for the vehicles to reach 500,000 units by the year 2024-2025. The sale of new or imported cars in Pakistan currently stands at 268,000 units, which includes used cars imported mainly from Japan. The installed production capacity is currently 285,000 units per year.
Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) current data shows that the sales of vehicles dropped by 13 percent Year on Year (YoY) basis in February 2019 to 19,712 units while it declined by 4.5 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year FY19 to 170,354 units.
Auto analysts say that massive increase in car prices due to rupee depreciation against greenback, ban on non-filers to purchase new cars, and higher interest rate of up to 10.75 percent, are the main reasons for the sales decline.
“Volumes will still see a downward trend in months to come, in our view, due to slow down in economy as well,” research by Topline Securities says.
