KARACHI: BYD Auto, the world’s largest electric vehicles (EV) manufacturer with a global turnover of $250 billion, is ready to enter Pakistan, said local manufacturers of electric vehicles components during a news conference in Karachi on Thursday.
“After the approval of the electric vehicle policy, new EV players are waiting for the government to issue Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) so that the process of introducing these vehicles could begin in the country. BYD’s entry in the local market would change the entire transportation to EV,” Shaukat Qureshi, General Secretary of Pakistan Electric Vehicles and Parts Manufacturers and Traders Association (PEVMA), said while interacting with the media.
Prime Minister’s Advisor on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam, who also attended the session, assured the manufacturers that the government would soon release the SRO to “revolutionize” the transportation industry in the country.
“On Saturday we will be meeting with the prime minister and get his approval for an incentive package for the EV policy that will soon be implemented. We are expediting the process so that you can start setting up industries that will be the future of Pakistan,” Aslam said.
Prime Minister’s Advisor on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam addresses a media briefing on electric vehicles and their benefits in Karachi on Nov. 28, 2019. (AN Photo)
Pakistan announced the first Electric Vehicle Policy 2019 earlier this month, hoping to convert 30 percent of vehicles on electricity by 2030 as an answer to its climate change problems.
“The country is facing challenges related to climate change and electric vehicles will be an effective weapon, especially in places like Lahore where the problem of smog is posing a major environmental threat,” the adviser said. “The conversion to EV would save the country around $2 billion annually in oil import bill, apart from providing cheap transportation means.”
Briefing the media, PEVMA Vice Chairman Mohammad Ayaz said: “It was decided to set up a body that could guide the relevant ministry and authorities to implement the EV policy in its true letter and spirit by finding ways to induct these vehicles in the transportation system of the country.”
“The common man will immensely benefit from the advantages of electric vehicles since these automobiles will help them save significant amounts of money that is currently spent on fuel and maintenance alone,” he added.
Pakistani manufacturers say their Chinese partners are willing to make the country a springboard to export EVs to the Middle East, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and other states.
