‘Made in Pakistan’ weapons being sold to 40 countries
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is manufacturing and selling weapons to over 40 countries, bringing in $20 million annually, the chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) said Thursday.
“POF was [previously] fulfilling the requirements of [Pakistan] army only but now security needs of other civil forces and law-enforcement agencies are also being met,” Chairman Lt. Gen. Muhammad Ahsan Mehmood told media at Pakistan Ordinance Factories in Wah.
Mehmood said Pakistan is also producing new sniper rifles to meet the demands of military and law enforcement agencies, and that new developments and products were expected to be unveiled at the 2014 IDEAS exhibition in Karachi.
He said that modern weapons produced by POF have made it possible to target terrorists taking refuge in caves and buildings. The POF is also manufacturing mortar bombs, small arms, artillery ammunition, tank- and anti tank ammunition and other defence weaponry, he added.
Pakistan is the world’s third largest weapons importer, trailing behind neighbouring India and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The country’s arms imports increased by 119 per cent between the 2004–2008 and 2009–13, with China providing 54pc and the USA 27pc of Pakistan’s imports.
But at a guided tour of the tank-rebuilding factory at the Heavy Industries Taxila, Brigadier Sanaullah told journalists that Pakistan is planning to rid itself of foreign dependence in the defence industry.
Brig. Sanaullah said that at the end of 2015 the new Al-Khalid-1 tank was expected to be rolled out — a much superior tank compared to Al-Khalid, the main battle tank produced by the HIT.
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Nov 27, 2014 11:04pm
Proud of our POF production!
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Nov 27, 2014 11:11pm
Congratulations to all those involved in POF industry for hard work and dedication to help Pakistan to get rid of foeign dependence. No nation can win the war with foreign dependence.
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Nov 27, 2014 11:17pm
Well Done
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Nov 27, 2014 11:32pm
$20 million income from 40 countries combined?? US sells one f-16 for $30 million!
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Nov 28, 2014 12:12am
All this money if spent on schools and infrastructure can make this country better than a lot of other countries.
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Nov 28, 2014 12:20am
And how much is spent on polio vaccination?
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Nov 28, 2014 12:30am
salute, do something to fix the political problem of Pakistan for good. Do not support and pick people like Nawaz, Zardari.
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Nov 28, 2014 12:36am
How ironic, they can build weapons, but government can't built power plants, dams in the country to provide basic necessary things like gas water& electricity. Why Pakistan still importing electronics & automobile? I would blame corupt politicians, because they lose their commission.
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Nov 28, 2014 12:58am
@Sayyar Khan POF, like many army-managed enterprises are the ones producing the most moneys to the government in the form of taxes. Its a profitable and well-performing venture that is bringing foreign exchange to the economy. So bringing up schools or clinics or these things is irrelevant here - thats the governments job.
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Nov 28, 2014 01:11am
@G.A. ,he is talking about small ammunition, not fighter jets,Pakistan sells one f-17 for 10 millions,much cheaper than 30 millions with almost same kind of performance.
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Nov 28, 2014 01:12am
This $20 million is going towards the Polio eradication drive.
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Nov 28, 2014 01:16am
@Sayyar Khan. If the money spent on defence projects was given to ministry of education then it is not hard to guess where that money will end up (in the Swiss bank accounts of minister and top bureaucrats). First the education ministry must show and prove transparency and honesty before getting additional money.
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Nov 28, 2014 01:18am
@Sayyar Khan ...And you believe with out security any country can even exist in this wars era? please reconsider your approach.
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Nov 28, 2014 01:20am
POF's exports are not that great but we should be happy that it is one of the government owned facility that is actually working!!!
I own a small business that exports $2 millions worth of equipment to 43 countries but I still give thumbs up to POF for doing whatever they are doing, although there is a big room for further increase in their exports.
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Nov 28, 2014 01:27am
$20 million only and that with 40 countries? Sluggish business.
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Nov 28, 2014 01:37am
Wow! U guys are so rich ;)
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Nov 28, 2014 01:54am
We should develop ourselves in this field which will not only alleviate our import but also escalate our export especially in the context of prevailing terrorism in different countries.
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Nov 28, 2014 01:54am
Well done POF.
Proud of Pakistan.
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Nov 28, 2014 02:44am
@G.A.
But US budget is also in trillions.
BTW why do you always think negatively? Our industry is a start, US's developed it for years. We'll catch up.
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Nov 28, 2014 02:50am
Why the negativity? It's a profitable department for Pakistan, its job is to provide arms to Pak Army and is doing it darn well. I can't imagine what would become of it inthe hands of civilian govt.
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Nov 28, 2014 03:03am
Don't worry about the numbers. Just keep developing self reliance. It will pan out in other ways than just monetary.
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Nov 28, 2014 03:31am
Masha Allahu Ta;aala.
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Nov 28, 2014 03:38am
Pakistan sells weapons to over 40 countries, bringing in $20 million annually, is it twenty million or twenty it is Billion. It cost thirty million dollars to buy one apache helicopter from U.S.
Also Pakistan paid over twenty million dollars for two bullet proof B.M.W cars for Nawaz Sharif.
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Nov 28, 2014 04:31am
@Qamar
Congratulations to you too. But don't oppose Ik, otherwise, you will be instantly labeled corrupt by PTI trolls.
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Nov 28, 2014 05:44am
All that money that we use toward maintaining army could be used toward educating of people of Pakistan.
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Nov 28, 2014 06:15am
Very good....only if we can spend half of the money earned from these sales on education then we can make our country even stronger and better.
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Nov 28, 2014 06:23am
Selling to 40 countries & revenue only $20 million? The article says nothing about which countries these are.
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Nov 28, 2014 06:32am
@Merc when the main business is tanks , business keeps tanking!
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Nov 28, 2014 06:45am
$20M should probably be price of only five tanks which cannot be sold to 40 countries. Not impressive numbers.
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Nov 28, 2014 06:46am
@Lucky Star . Actually, I support IK wholeheartedly despite his few shortcomings. If not IK, then who else can bring about a positive change?
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Nov 28, 2014 07:11am
We would like a guided tour of the bread and sugar factories as well please.
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Nov 28, 2014 07:26am
This is really peanuts when you consider how expensive weapons of war are and the huge infrastructure investment that has gone into HIT. Don't forget the payroll of tens of thousands of employees there as well. To top it off, as with all military and government institutes, the organization is top heavy, with executives more interested in their personal perks than operational efficiencies.
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Nov 28, 2014 08:21am
It's amazing how we look for negativity everywhere . POF is doing an amazing job and the least we could do is appreciate it since most of us have done nothing for Pakistan anyway except log on to forums like this and criticize everything !!!!!
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Nov 30, 2014 07:31am
@Merc 100 million goes to the foreign bank accounts of our leaders in guess
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Nov 30, 2014 07:36am
The US makes BILLONS on weapon sales and why shouldn't Pakistan? Ideally it would be nice if all that money was spent on providing clean water, sanitation and security but the world is not ideal.
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Nov 30, 2014 07:46am
@Sayyar Khan but unsafe from enemies if arms not ready.
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Nov 30, 2014 07:48am
@A. Khan India does not get a penny from their arms. Their arms industry is a flop, they force Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan to buy
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Nov 30, 2014 07:52am
@G.A. good luck to them.
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Nov 30, 2014 07:56am
Well done
Your made weapons are for sale abroad?
They are supplied for free in Kashmir I thought.. .
...
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