Pakistan: Ahsan Iqbal calls for fast-track transition to electric vehicles
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said on Saturday that the world is moving away from gasoline in transportation as the EV revolution has begun across the globe.
“Around 80 per cent of petrol in Pakistan is spent on transport and “we are trying to move towards electric vehicles quickly,” the minister said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of EVS World and Electricity Pakistan Exhibition and later talking to the media here at Expo Centre.
He said the revolution of EVs has taken place, and the promotion of electric vehicles would play an important role in reducing the import cost of fuel. “We will have to move rapidly towards modern technology, electric vehicles and green energy.”
Mr Iqbal said the country’s development depends on sustainable energy, innovation and industrial expansion. “We have to move away from import dependence and create an export-based economy. We have to move towards a dollar-denominated economy.”
Says 80pc of country’s petrol is consumed by transport sector
He said that as Pakistan’s economic independence and sustainable development depend on a significant increase in exports, the country must quickly shift from an import-based economy to an export-based economy. “It is necessary to quickly introduce EVs in our transport sector and shift two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers to electric energy in a phased manner.”
In this regard, he added, the government has given various incentives, including a subsidy of up to Rs80,000 for the promotion of electric motorcycles, while in the recent budget, duties on EV vehicles have also been reduced so that they can be introduced in the country as much as possible.
He said that Pakistan has created an energy buffer in the power sector through 6,000-8,000 MW of solar energy. “Now there is a need to reduce dependence on imported oil and use domestically generated electricity for transport.”
The minister said that Pakistan’s future depends on its export capacity. He said that now Pakistan has to quickly shift from a consumption-based economy to a dollar-earning economy. He thought that Pakistan had to achieve the target of exports of more than $100 billion by 2035.
“The country’s economic independence depends on whether we can increase our exports at the desired pace or not. Every businessman has to play his role to become an exporter,” he observed.
He said that the government’s priority is to bring continuity in policies and provide full support to the private sector to increase exports. Pakistan’s EV sector also has the potential to achieve a prominent position at the global level; however, the current export volume needs to be increased at least tenfold, he added.
Reference Link:- https://www.dawn.com/news/2018388
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
