INCREASE OF ITPs ON IMPORTED TYRES

The Challenge

Even though the tyre industry has proved to be one of the crucial sectors for the economic growth, this sector has been highly ignored by the concerned officials over the issues of misdeclaration, smuggling & under-invoicing, which have evidently paralyzed tyre industry’s ability to satisfy the ever growing domestic demand with only 20 percent contribution with the rest being captured by imported and/or smuggled tyres. Many of the tyre importers are importing tyres under the category of ‘others’ to take benefit of lower ITPs, without being noticed by the official authorities. This has not only hampered the growth of the tyre industry, but has also caused immense revenue loss to the national economy.

The Strategy

In order to effectively and efficiently resolve the problems being faced by the local tyre manufacturers , “The Passage” designed and executed a comprehensive and aggressive campaign to bring the problems of the local manufacturers under the consideration of the government. The campaign consisted of independent stories and articles in addition to journalists workshops to highlight the issues of the local tyre manufacturers as well as the revenue loss being faced by FBR.

The Execution

Through strategic and constant feeding of information to the right media, we succeeded in bringing the issue to limelight which pressurized the government to amplify the ITPs on imported tyres by 3% to 20% in support of the local industry. This is a positive sign for the local industry and raised their hopes for a positive future outlook while we are now focusing on the campaign against smuggled tyres and highlighting the anomalies in imports to further level the playing field.

Saleem Mahmood
Chief Executive

Saleem Mahmood, founder and CEO of “The Passage,” has a passion for strategic PR and communications. His journey began as a public relations officer at Pakistan International Airlines, leading him to establish The Passage in 2000. Under his leadership, the company has executed thriving PR campaigns and set industry standards. Mr. Mahmood holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Karachi University.