AUTOMARK MAGAZINE
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Automotive Sector - Update
Auto industry finalizes recommendations on AIDP The automobile industry has finalized its recommendations for the upcoming five-year auto industry development plan (AIDP). The plan, jointly pre pared by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) an d Pakistan A ssoc iat ion of A u to P art s and Accessories (PAAPAM), emphasizes the need of a balanced policy for import for used cars and continuation of a longterm balanced policy rather than short ones. The current auto-industry development plan will expire in 2012 after which a new five-year plan will be implemented. The auto industry insisted that the present tax rate needs to be maintained for the development of the sector. The production capacity of new cars is
targeted to reach around 380,000 annually by 2017 against the current capacity of 300,000 units. Industry sources tell that the current capacity is of 300,000 units, but during the year 2011 the production will stay around 160,000 units. It also proposes to impose duty and tax on the basis of weight instead of units in order to curb under invoicing and misdeclaration. Ind us Motor Dir ector Sales and Marketing Raza Ansari said that if the suggestion to waive import duty on specific items is not accepted, it will result in increase of Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 in cars prices. Implementation of the plan can improve the production capacity of the auto industry and help solve lift the country’s
economy, he added. Mr. Qaim Automotive Manufacturing CEO M. A. Jabbar said that the plan on hold for the last two years, has resulted in th e su spensio n of local parts production. The government’s friendly policies to international parts suppliers have affected the local production of parts massively, he added. He said that recommendations have been presented to the government and requested to be implemented in the upcoming budget. He said that due to SRO culture in the country, important plans of national level are affected. He added that the new proposed plans related to localization can help control the increasing prices of locally manufactured cars.
PIA 'Emergency Response Centre' inaugurated Pakistan Internat-ional Airlines (PIA) Eme rgency Response Centre was inaugurated by Nadeem Khan Yousufzai, Managing Director PIA. Whil e PIA pays utmost attentio n towards passenger care and takes every step to make its operation safe and sound, considering the eventualities arising from weather disruptions and other factors, it has established a state of the art facility to manage the exigencies in a co-ordinate d and organised manner. This ERC is first of the sort not only in Pakistan but in the Saarc region as well. Describing the main features of the centre on the occasion, Capt. S. Adnan Haris, Chief Pilot Safety & QA highlighted that the centre has got dedicated work stations with full IT Support for different departments in the command and control centre. Speaking on the occasion, Nad eem Kh an Yousufzai expressed his satisfaction over the emergency preparedness level of the airline and offered its utilisation to other local and international carriers operating in the country. He also invited other
PIA Emergency Response Center (ERC) inaugurated by Nadeem Khan Yousufzai, MD PIA at Airline's Head office. Deputy MD PIA, Salim Sayani, Director HRA & C, Shahnawaz Rehman, Director Flight Operations, Captain Illyas Malik, Chief Pilot Safety & Quality Assurance, Captain S. Adnan Haris and other senior officials of the airline are also present on the occasion. national institutions to get full advantage of the centre in handling emergencies in their organisations as well. He termed th e ERC a na tiona l a sset and congratulated PIA team members for their dedicated efforts in this regard. The ceremony was also attended by
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Deputy Managing Director PIA, Salim Sayani, Director HRA & C, Mr. Shahnawaz Rehman, Director Flight Operations, Captain Illyas Mal ik, Director Informatio n Technology , Irshad Ghani and other senior officials of the airline.-PR