By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Pakistan’s Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd. opened its first overseas factory in the Philippines, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pressed the company to buy more of its parts locally.
The plant in Biñan, in Laguna province south of Manila, can assemble about 12,000 three-wheeled vehicles a year, Marcos said at Thursday’s inauguration. Initial output will be 60% electric and 40% combustion-engine models, and the electric share is expected to rise as demand grows.
The Pakistani embassy in Manila publicised the opening on Friday in a post on X, saying Pakistan-made three-wheelers had entered the Philippine market and that it had facilitated the manufacturer’s entry. Ambassador Asma Rabbani congratulated the company, describing the plant as an important achievement for Pakistan’s industrial exports and a boost to trade ties between the two countries.
Marcos used the ceremony to push for deeper local content. “At present, many of your parts still come from abroad,” he said, and the company imports components and completely knocked-down kits from Pakistan for assembly in Laguna. He asked Sazgar to “grow your Filipino supply chain year after year.”
The plant qualified for incentives under the government’s Strategic Investment Priority Plan because at least a quarter of each unit’s value is added locally, Marcos said, adding that the Board of Investments expects the share to be higher. He said the company anticipates making all of its parts in the Philippines within about a year and pledged government cooperation toward that goal. He named batteries, glass, seat foam, upholstery, rubber and lubricants as openings for domestic suppliers.
“That is the kind of investment that we want,” Marcos said, contrasting companies that make things in the country with those that only sell to Filipinos. Sazgar, he said, “chose the Philippines” as its first home outside Pakistan and its base for Southeast Asia.
Sazgar Philippines Inc. was established this year as a subsidiary of the Lahore-based parent. It is 60% Filipino-owned. President and Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Fahim said the company plans to support the government’s EV program through local manufacturing, workforce training, partnerships with Philippine suppliers and, later, exports to other Southeast Asian markets. Fahim also encouraged foreign investors to look at business opportunities in the Philippines.
Sazgar was founded in Lahore in 1991 and exports three-wheelers and parts to more than 20 countries, including Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka and Nigeria, according to its website. In September 2025 it said it would target new export markets including the Philippines, Mexico and Afghanistan to diversify revenue.
Rickshaws are a smaller part of the story for investors than cars. Sazgar reported record net income of 23.6 billion rupees for the fiscal year ended June 30, up 44% from a year earlier. Revenue rose 76% to 191.7 billion rupees, helped by a 77% jump in four-wheeler sales, including Haval models, to 19,179 units.
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