Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the government is taking steps to promote engineering industry by diversifying its base and producing value added products, according to local private Geo TV report. Presiding over a meeting here Tuesday to review the performance of Engineering Development Board (EDB) and development of engineering industry in Pakistan, Aziz said that the steps taken by the government have paved way for a dynamic engineering sector in Pakistan to facilitate capacity and production.

He said that Pakistan is becoming a regional hub for production and trade activities because of its geographic location, availability of skilled labor and the business friendly policies of the government.

He said the engineering sector should focus on modernization and innovative technologies to improve the quality and competitiveness of locally manufactured products. Aziz said that the market demand for cars has expanded to 200, 000 cars. Local production of cars have gone up to 160,000 in 2006 from approximately 80,000 cars manufactured in 1999. Pakistan, which was manufacturing 90,000 motorcycles in 1999, is today producing 650,000 motorcycles.

The auto mobile sector showed a growth of 30 percent last year. Several parts manufacturing companies have set up their plants in Pakistan.

The prime minister said that expansion in auto industry has led to a substantial increase in employment generation. The industrial sector has employed 190,000 people so far.

Source: Xinhua