Islamabad, December 27, 2018 (PPI-OT): “Defence production industry has made tremendous progress since creation of Pakistan . In this context Heavy Industries Taxila(HIT) has played a pivotal role in maintenance , repair , up-gradation and manufacturing specialized vehicles including tanks, APCs and armoured vehicles”, said Senator Lt. Gen Abdul Qayyuum HI(M) Retd. while giving his concluding comments at a briefing arranged for Senate Standing Committee on Defence Production by Chairman HIT Lt. Gen Abdullah Dogar in Taxila Cantonment today.
The Com emphasized on the need greater coordination between HIT and all other defence production setups specially military vehicle research and development Institution to reduce our dependence on foreign countries with regard to meeting the needs of the Armed forces in soft vehicles including jeeps , doges, contours , ammunition vehicles, troop carriers and tank transporters. He lauded the evolution and progress made in defence production potential. “Soon after Independence, Pakistan did not inherit a scant defence production facility, however, with the passage of time, with zeal and devotion of the technical manpower, the production capabilities were enhanced achieving new milestones with each passing day, General Qayyum said.
The Committee was given a detailed briefing on the overall working and performance with regard to manufacturing, up-gradation and providing support services to the armed forces and other sister organization. Chairman HIT, Lt. Gen. Abdullah Dogar briefed the Committee and said that visit of the committee to HIT would further help in enhancing the performance and production capabilities. It was informed that vision of the HIT is to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces and self-reliance through indigenization and contribute to the overall development of the country via effectively marketing the products.
The Committee directed the Ministry of Defence Production to chalk out a plan for using surplus capacity of the defence institutions for commercial purposes to reduce pressure on the defence budget and meet the requirements of defence as a first priority. Chairman of the Committee laid emphasis on the up gradation of plants and machines besides building pool of trained technical manpower and taking steps towards indigenization, research and development in the Defence production sector.
The Chairman Committee emphasized that no compromise should be made on the quality to remain internationally competitive. He said that that the broad emphasis of the visit is to get awareness of the capability of the important national asset, share ideas to enhance institutional efficiency and broaden its base for the benefit of the country.
The Committee called for making the defence production establishments more vibrant to compete in the international markets. Members of the Committee assured full cooperation to HIT and its attached departments in overcoming the issues hampering their growth and development. The meeting was attended among others by senators Nuzhat Sadiq, Moulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Nauman Wazir Khattak and Pervaiz Rasheed.
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