ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb urged Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD to accelerate efforts to speed up local assembly and charging infrastructure development in the country, state media reported on Thursday, as Islamabad moves to adopt cleaner transportation technologies and attract investment in its EV sector.
BYD, a Chinese company that is a leader in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, has expanded aggressively in Asia, Europe and Latin America over the past few years. The Chinese company said last year it plans to roll out its first car assembled in Pakistan by July or August 2026. A manufacturing plant has been under construction since April this year near Karachi in a partnership between BYD and Pakistan’s Mega Motor Company.
Pakistan’s transport sector depends heavily on expensive imported fuel. Under Pakistan’s New Energy Vehicle Policy 2025-2030, Islamabad intends to increase the share of electric and other new-energy vehicles in new vehicle sales to 30 percent by 2030.
Aurangzeb met a delegation of the BYD Group led by its Vice President Liu Xueliang at the Finance Division on Thursday, the Press Information Department (PID) said in a statement.
“Reaffirming the government’s support for the EV sector, the finance minister encouraged the delegation to accelerate efforts toward local assembly, manufacturing and charging infrastructure development,” the PID said.
Aurangzeb pointed out that the availability of a robust charging network would be critical to expediting the adoption of electric vehicles across Pakistan. Meanwhile, Xueliang briefed the finance minister on BYD’s operations and future plans in Pakistan.
He highlighted the company’s progress in introducing new energy vehicle technologies to the local market in partnership with Pakistan’s Mega Motor Company. The BYD official informed participants of the meeting that construction of the BYD’s local manufacturing facility was progressing as per schedule.
“He shared BYD’s plans to expand its product portfolio, accelerate localization, introduce advanced charging technologies and contribute to the development of Pakistan’s EV ecosystem through investment, technology transfer and capacity building,” the PID said.
The delegation stressed Pakistan’s growing potential as a market for new energy vehicles, outlining its long-term vision of positioning the country as a regional hub for EV manufacturing and exports.
“It also highlighted plans to develop charging infrastructure in collaboration with local partners and to train Pakistani engineers and technicians to support the sector’s future growth,” the PID said.
