MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

ISLAMABAD: The Engineering Development Board (EDB) has reportedly failed to provide the agreement of three local car assemblers with their Japanese principals to the Senate and National Assembly’s Standing Committees on Industries and Production despite passage of months after the issuance of the directives.

According to official documents, a couple of months ago the Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production, had urged CEO, EDB to approach M/s Suzuki Motors, M/s Indus Motors and M/s Atlas Honda Cars (Pakistan) to share their arrangements with their Japanese principals and submit a report again.

The reply submitted by the EDB said that it has received the contract agreement of M/s Atlas Honda Cars (Pakistan) Ltd only, while M/s Indus Motor Company Limited has stated that prior to sharing their contract agreement they need to get TMC’s (Toyota Motor Corporation) consent being the contracting party of TAA (Technical Assistance Agreement) and they will submit their response by 15th October, 2016.

A response from M/s Pak Suzuki Motor Co is still awaited subsequent to the EDB’s letter No. EDB-Auto/Policy dated August 25th & 26th, 2016 followed by reminders 1st, 6th, 16th and 19th, September, 2016.

The committee had also directed that all vehicles manufactures should be directed to ensure quality production up to maximum capacity of their plants as well as on time delivery of vehicles to the vendors without any discrimination.

The EDB revealed to the committee that the decision has already been communicated to the industry with the request to ensure compliance. However, at the EDB’s end, measures have been initiated to adopt WP-29 i.e. Global Harmonized regulations of UECE, to ensure quality products. Regarding delivery of vehicles local manufacturers have been directed to ensure delivery within two months and any delay of over two months shall result in discount @ Kibor+2 percent prevailing on the date of final delivery/settlement from the final payment. Regarding production at maximum capacity the EDB revealed that M/s Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan was operating on single shift as per demand but after the launch of their new Civic Model the demand has substantially increased since the last two months and they are starting second shift to meet the increasing demand. The EDB stated that response from the other two firms in this regard is still awaited.

The committee had also decided to visit both the firms to assess their capability in transport sector. It was also desired to visit M/s Honda Atlas Cars, M/s Pak Suzuki Motors and M/s Indus Motors to ascertain their production capacity, quality of vehicles and the procedure for delivery of vehicles to the vendors.

According to the EDB, the decision has been communicated to industry. Senate Standing Committee has been asked to indicate date of the visit to industry so that EDB can arrange the visit.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Industries and Production headed by Asad Umar had also directed the EDB to provide the arrangements details of local assemblers with their Japanese principals to the committee but the Board has not implemented the decision so far.