Islamabad:The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said that natural disasters in Japan have proved fateful for Pakistan’s auto industry that continue to rely heavily on imported components.
Unable to tackle shortage of parts and keep production, Pakistan’s carmakers are facing serious problems and heavy losses, it said.
Car manufacturers should plan transfer of technology, revisit import strategies and engage multiple suppliers located in different countries to avoid such situation in future, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.
Over 1000 original equipment manufacturers, auto vendors, high tech engine parts producers and transmission parts fabricators in Japan have experienced the adverse impact of disaster which will translated into overall loss of around twenty billion rupees to local auto manufacturers, an estimate suggests.
The situation demands that the local industry should learn the importance of better planning and distributed operations, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal.
Automakers can no more afford the luxury to avoid the trend towards localism in manufacturing, he added.
Automakers should promote localisation to reduce dependence on imports and seek alternative sources for critical parts that are not available locally, he advised.
Local auto assemblers should learn to adapt, ensure transfer their
knowledge, expertise and latest methodologies to remain competitive which cannot be without pains, he said.
He said that any problem with a foreign contractor needs weeks and month to arrive at a solution while such an issue need few hours to settle if the service provider is based locally, he said.
Productivity, capacity utilization, management techniques, costs, skill up-gradation, training, transparency and quality are some issues that need to be resolved urgently.
Private sector industries should set up their own vocational institutes to prepare highly skilled workers, he opined.
If Pakistani technicians can produce parts for Boeing, why they cannot do it for cars, he asked adding that only lacking element is proper patronage.
Dr. Murtaza Mughal also questioned role of various state-run organisations that take pride in their foreign-supported industry support programmes that proved to be of no use at this critical juncture.
Masses are paying for the mishaps and decisions of elite that has renewed demands for a review on the structure of high import duties, he said.
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