Daewoo, Skywell & Hitachi ABB partner to introduce electric buses in Pakistan

Pakistan's Daewoo Express Pakistan, China's Skywell Automobiles and Sweden's Hitachi ABB Power Grids signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday to revolutionize Pakistan's transport sector.

Under the MoU, these three companies will be setting up a value chain for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in Pakistan. While Daewoo and Skywell will join hands to introduce electric buses and other electric vehicles in Pakistan, Hitachi ABB will develop a technical support base and charging infrastructure in the country.

In Phase I, Skywell will offer its state-of-the-art electric buses to Pakistan's automobile market. Whereas, in Phase II, it will set up a manufacturing plant for producing electric vehicles in the country.

The MoU signing ceremony was hosted at the official residence of the Ambassador of Sweden, Henrik Persson. While Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar attended the ceremony as the chief guest, the Ambassadors of South Korea, Switzerland and Japan were also present.

Moreover, Chairman Shahriyar Chishti and Vice Chairman Sameer Chishti from Daewoo Express, Skywell Automobile’s Chairman Huang Hongsheng, and CEO Mr. Fan, and Mr Najeeb Ahmed, Country Managing Director Hitachi ABB Power Grids in Pakistan signed the MoU on behalf of their respective companies.

Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar also tweeted about this event, calling it "a great milestone" leading to the implementation of Pakistan's Electric Vehicle policy.

Vice Chairman of Daewoo Sameer Chishti, who signed the MoU on behalf of Daewoo Express, also explains to the Business Recorder that this revolution will clean the air in Punjab, and enable Pakistanis to commute in electric buses. "They will commute safely, punctually, in comfort, with dignity, throwing off zero noise pollution, and massively lowering dangerous air pollution," he said.

According to Sameer Chishti, "Daewoo Express has long been the Pakistan market leader in transport. Rolling out environmentally friendly transport is a high priority for us. Our partnership brings together leading companies from Sweden, Switzerland, Korea, Japan, and China to serve Pakistan’s people with their expertise and experience. Each of these countries are global market leaders in electric mobility ecosystem. Hitachi ABB and Skywell are contributing leading edge technology for building electric mobility ecosystem in Pakistan of electric buses and charging stations, managed and operated by Daewoo Express."

Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, also tweeted about this new development and explained that having a charging structure for electric vehicles in Pakistan will increase their usage.

In addition to this, Sameer Chishti also explained that this new venture is fully aligned with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s clear compelling vision of a clean green Pakistan. "We are starting in Punjab by coming Eid, and inshallah we will rapidly cover the entire nation," he adds.