OUR STAFF REPORTER LAHORE - The inaugural ceremony of the international event of the Pakistan Auto Parts Show will begin today (Monday) at Expo Centre here. The show will continue till Oct 26. More than 130 national and international auto companies are exhibiting their products including manufactures of Cars, Motorcycles, Buses, Tractors and Auto spare parts on this occasion. The organizers have announced to distribute two motorcycles to participants of the expo through raffle during the expo on daily basis. The inaugural ceremony of Pakistan Auto Show will be held at 9.30am. The auto sector has taken initiative to organize the show for local auto part vendors to look for more export opportunities. Praising the efforts of local vendors in developing the engineering base and enhancing the skill sets of local engineers, they said that it is for the efforts of OEMs that local auto manufacturers have achieved 60 percent localization. The auto sector is fully committed to localization process and has already developed 60 vendors and has arranged 34 technical assistance agreements for transfer of technology. In this regard, the IMC has invested Rs13 billion in development of internal infrastructure which includes Press Shop, Engine Shop and Paint Shop. The OEMs have invested over Rs75 billion in local auto industry and it contributes more than 5 percent annually towards the national exchequer. Moreover OEMs and auto parts manufacturers employ around 200,000 people and supports employment of over 1,392,000 persons throughout its supply chain of vendors, suppliers and dealers. The auto industry experts expressed confidence that the show will attract local and foreign investors and that the local auto industry will get support from government and policy makers which will help open doors for exploring foreign markets. The local car manufacturers including the Indus Motors Company are the platinum sponsor for Pakistan Auto Parts Show (PAPS 2011) aimed to provide a platform for local engineering firms to introduce their products. The auto sector in Pakistan is committed to play its role in the development of engineering base of the country. So, sponsoring 'PAPS 2011 is a step in this direction, which will showcase the achievements of Pakistan auto industry.