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The buzz began when the charismatic owner of Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Peshawar Zalmi and CEO of Haier Pakistan Javed Afridi tweeted “TESLA IN PAKISTAN!?” early this month. The masses started wondering if Tesla, the most valuable electric car company in the world, was really going to enter the Pakistani space. Now, in yet another development, Afridi has reportedly revealed that Prime Minister Imran Khan himself will be meeting with Tesla executives to discuss the launch of electric cars in the country.
According to popular TV anchor, journalist, and columnist Sabir Shakir, Javed Afridi stated that he had already held a couple of meetings with executives from Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company. He even went on to say that the executives expressed an interest in investing in the Pakistani automotive market.
However, the biggest development comes about in the form of PM Imran Khan himself all set to meet with executives from Tesla and discuss the possibility of the company launching electric cars in the country.
Pakistan’s presence in the electric vehicle space may be pretty much non-existent right now, but it has been taking great strides in the right direction. With British, Chinese, and American electric vehicle investors already having expressed an intent to enter the Pakistani space, it seems that confidence in Pakistan’s EV future is only growing.
That confidence might have emerged from the seriousness with which the government is treating electric vehicles in recent months. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has ratified the electric vehicle policy for four-wheelers in the country, and the government has even announced its plans to provide significant tax exemptions for electric vehicles in Pakistan.
As if to further underscore his ambitions, Javed Afridi tweeted the following in response to a recent news story covering his plans:
InshaAllah https://t.co/cvPYwYBAZ2
— Javed Afridi (@JAfridi10) January 18, 2021
