Daimler-Chrysler and Coastal Group of UAE has decided to invest US$5.85 billion in Pakistan by starting production of Mercedes-Benz trucks, both commercial and military, buses and Mercedes cars of various types to create a vendor industry. The group will set up their plant on 1,200 acres of land near Shaikhupura provided by the government. The investment would create 5,000 jobs directly and indirectly, said Umar Ahmed Ghumman, minister of state for Privatisation and Investment and chairman Board of Investment (BoI) at a news conference at the Parliament House here on Thursday.
Coastal Group would make all the financial investment in the project, while Daimler-Chrysler would provide technology transfer.
Re: Daimler-Chrysler to Invest in Pakistan
Good news! In another news we’re going to see ‘London Taxi on city roads by next month’](http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\06\16\story_16-6-2006_pg11_8).
ISLAMABAD: British taxis equipped with modern technology such as satellite tracking will be running on roads in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi by next month, Umar Ahmad Ghuman, state minister for privatisation and investment, said on Thursday.
The government has allowed duty-free import of 300 taxis on trial basis, while Prime Transport Limited, a company owned by a US based Pakistani, will invest $1 billion for an assembly plant for London Taxi (LTI) of UK at Gharo in Sindh, Ghuman told a press conference at Parliament House.
Ghuman told reporters that President General Pervez Musharraf will inaugurate the London Taxi terminal at Karachi Airport by the end of next month, while Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will perform the ground breaking ceremony of the LTI assembly plant at Gharo, for which 300 acres of land has been allocated.
He said the government aimed to provide people with a safe, economical and reliable taxi service.
The state minister said the LTI plant will assemble 18,000 taxis annually in Pakistan, out of which 9,000 taxis would be exported and the remaining will operate within the country. The export of 9,000 taxis is expected to earn $2.8 billion annually, he said. The 2,400 cc London Taxi which is priced at 42,000 pounds in the UK will be available for around 20,000 pounds in Pakistan, he said.
The minister said that Dubai Port World (DPW) of UAE will construct three new modern colonies in Karachi with an investment of $15 billion, adding that an MoU in this regard had been signed between DPW and the Ministry of Ports and Shipping.
He said the DPW will build housing units in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad which will not only overcome the six million shortage of housing units in the country but will help check property prices.
The minister said that Daimler Chrysler of USA will establish its assembly plant near Sheikhupura, which will produce Mercedes-Benz trucks, buses and cars. He said that Volkswagen, Renault and Jetta were also expected to set up manufacturing plants in Pakistan.
Re: Daimler-Chrysler to Invest in Pakistan
atlast Merc is convinced now after being put off by Mr 10%++ in the past. good move for Pak People for jobs if not anything else for common man.
Re: Daimler-Chrysler to Invest in Pakistan
Yeah! Mr. 10% was the big menace in Pakistan.
Great news. Pakistan should make sure that a large chunk of the production from this plan is exported.
Re: Daimler-Chrysler to Invest in Pakistan
More excellent news on foreign investment in Pakistan. :k:
Re: Daimler-Chrysler to Invest in Pakistan
Good news for pakistan. Congratulations.
However, I am confused on the revenue generated by exports:
9000 taxis at 42000 pounds / taxi will work out to 378 million pounds (approx 675 million dollars). I think a revenue of 2.8 billion for 9000 taxis is not reasonable.
Re: Daimler-Chrysler to Invest in Pakistan
actually the london taxi deal has been called off;
http://www.dawn.com/2006/06/23/top11.htm
Re: Daimler-Chrysler to Invest in Pakistan
Not entirely. This is news in the latest edition of the London Financial Times.
London’s horsepower ousts power of the horse in Lahore
By Farhan Bokhari
Published: July 4 2006
Dawood Khan and Saleem Jan are too far apart for reasons of affluence to ever meet in person but they do share a common interest. Plans by Mr Khan’s privately owned Prime Transport Ltd to import up to 150 London taxis to Pakistan next month have prompted Mr Jan to proclaim an end to his family’s three-generation “tonga” business. For decades, Pakistanis have used the horse-drawn cart for transport. Five years ago, a boom in car sales saw the arrival of a vast number of taxis which, in the main cities, have almost replaced anything horse-drawn. However, Mr Khan and Mr Jan are keen to defend both the new taxis and the old tonga as an important part of the country’s legacy. “The angrez sarkar [British administration] not only saw the value of the tonga but also encouraged it,” says Mr Jan. “They knew that a good train system was useful for south Asia but people had to get to and from the station.” The tonga worked like a jeep which could take you anywhere, he says, pointing at the wooden wheels surrounded by reinforced rubber and held together with cast iron spokes – a perfect means of negotiating less-than- smooth roads.
The Raj may not have been the first to introduce horses and carts to colonial south Asia but some of the laws, such as the use of lanterns at night and the number of passengers it could carry, were undoubtedly a British administrative legacy. Mr Jan spends most of his day pedalling passengers from the vicinity of Minar-e-Pakistan – the monument in Lahore that marked the historic meeting of the All India Muslim League which in 1940 resolved to create a separate state for Muslim Pakistan. But just like the signs of disrepair and the colour fading from the marble-tiled minar (tower), Mr Jan notes that the frequent defiance of traffic laws is indicative of a breakdown that would never have been tolerated in colonial times. “There was a time you could be fined if a tonga didn’t have two lanterns, one on each side. That’s why my father always kept a tank full of kerosene oil at home to fill the lantern every morning,” he recalls. “Now, the only law is what you bribe the traffic policemen and then you can drive however you like.” Mr Khan, for his part, recognises the history. London taxis would not only bring a practical means of transport but because they are one of the world’s most famous cabs, would also help Pakistan improve its image, he says. “Every time a traveller from abroad gets out of a Pakistani airport, a London taxi would be waiting there to receive them. This is a familiar image for globetrotters and it’s one which is bound to impress.”
In the next three years Prime Transport plans to invest up to $850m (€665m, £460m) on setting up a plant in Karachi, Pakistan’s southern port city. “Our assembly and manufacturing venture is much bigger than the 300 taxis. But as the taxis come here soon, that would provide a good image.” As the company’s managing director, Mr Khan, a Pakistani expatriate who made money in the US, claims he has worked hard for four years, putting together the investment with help from friends and family to provide 30 per cent of the equity, with the rest as commercial debt. “If London taxis come, they would certainly attract a lot of attention.” says Naeem Khalid Bashir, a retired school teacher, as he boards Mr Jan’s tonga, after an afternoon with his grandchildren near the Pakistan monument. “People in Pakistan have seen pictures of London taxis on TV. We have become so used to tight space in small Japanese cars that a London taxi would be very welcome,” he says. Mr Khan says tongas will be remembered, even after Pakistanis stop using them. “The British gave us the tonga legacy but that was when there was plenty of space on our roads. Now, there’s so much congestion in a market where car sales are booming that we may have another powerful and long-enduring legacy – the London taxis.”