KARACHI: The automobile sector of Pakistan is going to enter a golden era of development. According to Pakistan’s Honorary Investment Counsellor in China Philip Jian, Chinese brands such as BAIC Motor, Changan Auto, and SAIC Motor have established assembly operations in Pakistan.

In an interview with China Economic Net, he indicated that other companies such as GWM, BYD, and Geely are expected to open plants in Pakistan. With excellent possibilities in the automobile sector of Pakistan, an increasing number of Chinese manufacturers are valuing the South Asian country as a key target in their strategic strategy. “Chery’s market of righthand drive cars covers seven countries. Especially in South Africa and Nepal etc, we have already been listed, but these are the markets for complete vehicles,”

Felix Hu, Director of Chery Automobile Pakistan, told CEN. “Among them, Pakistan is the first market for CKD (completely knocked down) vehicles among them, and the vehicles will be assembled and produced locally.” Automobile production in Pakistan will increase local employment and tax revenue as a result of Sino-Pak cooperation.

More importantly, “as we will manufacture our latest model here, therefore our technology and management skills will be integrated into the project in Pakistan, which will have an extremely positive impact on the improvement of the entire industry in Pakistan,” Felix said.

“You will see there’re always advantages for JVs (joint ventures) because both sides save time and money. We can in very short time start production and go forward. It’s great,” Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd Three-Wheeler Project Team Head Zubair Aamir said.

The Pakistani government established the Electric Vehicle Policy 2020-25 in 2020, with the goal of having electric vehicles account for 30% of all passenger vehicle and heavy-duty truck sales by 2030, and 90% by 2040.

The electric vehicle industry in Pakistan has grown rapidly in recent years, thanks to government support, and cooperation between Chinese and Pakistani businesses has sprouted like mushrooms.

“China has created electric vehicle standards, including electric storage, batteries, and other components. China did so because it is far ahead of the rest of the world in terms of standardising electric vehicles and products. So I would like to get these things from China,” Aamir said.

The entire EV sector, it is learned, centres around the battery system, which is primarily dominated by China, Japan, and South Korea on a global scale. Aamir also demonstrated to CEN an electric three-wheeler that combined Chinese and Pakistani wisdom.

“Its motor, battery and electronic control system are all imported from China, sharing the same production line with Tesla. The steel frame steering system of the whole vehicle is also from China. All the seats on the car are made of Pakistani calfskin, therefore, are comfortable and soft,” he said. “In recent years, Chinese automobile brands have become very mature in technology, especially when it comes to the entry-level models. We can confidently say that they already can compete with Japanese and Korean models.

“In fact, we encourage enterprises to invest in the whole industry chain in Pakistan, not just in CKD assembly plants. That is to say, through our technology, equipment exports and capacity transfer, Pakistan’s basic industrial supporting capacity can be rapidly stimulated. We believe we have the ability to make it,” Philip Jian concluded.