Sharjeel asks Turkish company to bring electric buses to Karachi

Sindh Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon met a director of Turkish company Albayrak Group, Cemil Senocak, on Monday and asked him to bring electric public buses of the European standard to Karachi.

Transport Secretary Abdul Haleem Sheikh and Sindh Mass-Transit Authority Managing Director Capt (retd) Altaf Hussain were also present on the occasion. The transport minister offered the Turkish company to bring electric buses of the European standard to Karachi, stating that it was a metropolitan city with best business opportunities.

He said the Sindh transport department had planned to bring thousands of buses to the city and was working on a modern BRT system in the metropolis under the Red Line, Orange Line, People's Intra-District Bus Service and Yellow Line projects.

He also told the Turkish firm officer that the government would facilitate establishment of a manufacturing plant in the Dhabeji Free Economic Zone. He said the Sindh government would extend every possible support to the Turkish company to invest in the public transport sector in Karachi.

“We are ready to join hands under the public-private partnership mode. The government can provide subsidy on operating and maintenance of buses,” Memon said, adding that the Sindh government was serious about giving modern and reliable transport facilities to the people of Karachi.

He also remarked that Pakistan and Turkey had cordial relations and the Sindh government wanted Turkish companies to invest in the province in the field of public transport.

Memon said that during his recent visit to Turkey, he had met the Turkish deputy minister for transport and invited him to invest in public transport in Sindh. The Albayrak Group director told Memon that the company felt pride to work in Pakistan. He added that it will make proposals regarding investments in the public transport sector and share them with the provincial transport department.