The Federation of the Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has decided to take up the matter of abolition of the Engineering Development Board (EDB) with the president, the prime minister and the finance minister in the coming week to get the issue restored. The decision has been made in a meeting of stakeholders called by FPCCI president Zubair F Tufail to discuss the matter at Federation House.
The meeting was attended by all vice presidents of the FPCCI (Sindh Region) and representatives of various associations, including the automobile, automotive and auto spare-parts associations. During the meeting, the stakeholders expressed serious concern and termed the abolition illogical and unjustified.
They stated that the government took this decision unilaterally without consulting the FPCCI and other trade bodies. The EDB was playing a fundamental role in promotion of the engineering sector, protection of domestic industries and strengthening them by giving incentives.
The EDB was an affiliate department of the Ministry of Industries. It was established in 1995, with an aim to strengthen the engineering sector, promote exports, increase technical training and enable import substitution. The Board presented two auto policies in 2007 and 2016, which raised the number of auto assemblers from three to 55. The proper implementation of the auto policy will develop competition and bring opportunity of technology transfer.
They pointed out that since 2010 the government has failed to give due importance to the EDB or the engineering sector itself and the EDB operated without a CEO for almost three years between 2012 and 2015, and since March 2017. The stakeholders also emphasized the need for transparency, efficiency, expertise and merit in the EDB to fulfill the objectives of strengthening the engineering sector in Pakistan and integrate it with the world market to make it the driving force for economic growth as the future of Pakistan depends upon the industries particularly on engineering, chemical and information technology industries which have huge potential for contributing in economic growth and employment generation.
They stated that the closure and shifting the responsibility of the EDB will disrupt the large-scale manufacturing, especially the auto industry, and will further complicate the situation, create impediments in investments in the auto sector, especially the vending sector. Zubair Tufail assured the audience of his full support and assistance to stakeholders and stated that the FPCCI will try to convince the government to continue with the EDB with complete restructuring of its boards of directors by including the representatives from the private sector, the Board of Investment and the Pakistan Engineering Council.