Steel Guru : BoI sees Tuwairqi Steel to serve as the catalyst of industrial growth in Pakistan

Mr Saleem H Mandviwalla Pakistan’s minister of state & chairman of Board of Investment has visited Tuwairqi Steel Mills project at Bin Qasim recently.

The minister expressed his satisfaction on the overall construction activities going on more specifically the organized manner on which the project is scheduled and progressed and admired the quality of work as well.

He further acknowledged and appreciated the enthusiasm of engineers and workers. Mr Mandviwalla specifically remarked on the outstanding contribution of Al Tuwairqi Holding the parent company of TSML towards local value addition particularly in the area of design & engineering and fabrication.

He said that “It is a matter of great pride for us that Pakistan would be producing one of the most preferred raw materials for quality steel making DRI, upon the completion of the Phase I of TSML.”

He added that we are committed to transform our country into an industrial hub and for that we seek more projects especially in the steel sector, since steel is the backbone of the industrial growth.

Mr Syed Ashgar Abbas Rizvi DG of BoI said that government is facilitating local as well as foreign investors for the industrial growth of the country besides offering them lucrative incentives.

Mr Abbas Rizvi said that “We are expecting a significant increase in foreign investment during this fiscal year.” He also informed about the Special Economic Zone, which spreads over an area of 2500 acres in Dabeji, where renowned Japanese companies would commence industrial activities which would strengthen the national economy and create a number of job opportunities.

In line with the vision of Al Tuwairqi Holding, the minister also emphasized the dire need and exigencies of backward and forward integration of this project. The proposal of Jet Furnace project from Germany, which is substantially cost effective in terms of electrical energy consumption, specifically attracted the attention of the minister and he pointed that the government would fully support this effort of Al Tuwairqi to bring this technology to Pakistan.

Mr Mandviwalla further said that “We, at BoI, are very sure that this project would definitely serve as the catalyst of industrial growth in Pakistan,” he maintained.”

Mr Zaigham Adil Rizvi director of TSML earlier gave a detailed presentation about the project and shared statistics about the global steel industry. He said that the DRI production worldwide has increased from 84.6 million tonnes in 2000, to over 132.9 million tonnes in 2008. There is a consistent growth in the production of DRI over the years owing to environment friendly production process and consistent quality of the product.

He was of the view that currently Pakistan is among the countries that rely mostly on imports when it comes to heavy mechanical structures and engineering goods. He added that “By producing high quality steel within Pakistan we can manufacture such equipment locally by value addition with the help of downstream industries.”