Good news for the Pakistani economy: A Chinese group will invest $340 million in manufacturing electric vehicles and charging plants in Pakistan. Sindh’s Energy Minister, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, stated that the Sindh government will provide all kinds of facilities to the Chinese company. If the Chinese company manufactures electric vehicles in Pakistan, the Sindh government will purchase more than 20% of the cars produced at the plant in Karachi. He made these comments during a media briefing at a ceremony held at a local hotel regarding the joint charging stations project between Malik Group and the Chinese company ADEN Group. Malik Group’s Chairman, Malik Khuda Bakhsh, and ADEN Group’s CEO, Yasser Bhambani, also spoke at the event.
The ceremony was attended by notable investors like Arif Habib, industrialists Zubair Tufail, Khalid Tawab, Hanif Goher, Abdul Sami Khan, Mazhar Ali Nasir, Mirza Ishtiaq Baig, Abdul Haseeb Khan, and others. Nasir Hussain Shah mentioned that the Sindh government is ready to provide land and facilities for the charging plants. He further emphasized that the provincial government would facilitate foreign companies in investing in the country. He also mentioned that the Chinese company has announced that it will begin manufacturing small electric vehicles, mini trucks, and SUVs in Pakistan by the end of this year. The Sindh government will procure 20% if the company offers discounted cars.
Malik Khuda Bakhsh, the local partner of the Chinese group in Pakistan, said that 30 charging plants from China will arrive in Pakistan within the next 10 days and start being installed across the country. He hopes that the required number of charging plants will be established nationwide by the end of this year. He mentioned that the first charging station has already been set up in Karachi, and the second will be inaugurated in Lahore on Thursday. Yasser Bhambani, CEO of ADEN Group, said their company will invest $90 million to set up 3,000 charging stations across Pakistan and another $240 million to set up a vehicle manufacturing plant. He expects that by the end of this year, 1,000 charging stations will be installed, and electric vehicle production will start by December. The Chinese company also announced that it plans to manufacture 72,000 electric vehicles annually in Pakistan and export them to the Middle East, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.