Pakistan’s first eco-friendly electronic bike was launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday in Islamabad.

The Prime Minister called the launch of the e-bike, manufactured by a company called Jolta Electric, a “futuristic step” that acts as a solid direction for the government to move in. Khan stressed the importance of planning by saying that all the countries that have progressed have planned for the future.

“We need to plan for the future generations to offer solutions to upcoming problems,” he said.

This launch was part of the government’s Pakistan Electric Vehicles Policy 2020-2025. Khan pointed out that PTI’s government is making an active effort to fight against global warming by starting different initiatives like the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme which aims to plant 10 billion trees across Pakistan by 2023.

Khan talked about the degrading environmental conditions in Pakistan.

“Lahore’s pollution levels are dangerous to human life, they can shorten a person’s lifespan by 11 years,” he said. “These electric vehicles will help protect our cities from pollution. We will have to bring electric buses, cars, and motorbikes”, he continued, highlighting that motorbikes are the worst for the environment. He also feels that this will help build trust between the government and the citizens.

“Whenever our people have been tested, they have been generous and have persevered. If they don’t pay taxes now, it is because they don’t trust the government to use their taxes for good. We are building that trust now by spending their taxes on useful, helpful things,” he said.

He considers this a “positive step” for the future, adding, “For the first time, Pakistan is being acknowledged internationally for the steps we have taken to solve this issue. The world sees Pakistan as one of the few countries leading the campaign against global warming.”

Khan explained that this move will also help Pakistan grow economically.

“We never use our raw materials, taking the easy route by importing everything. But the problem is that the country keeps getting poorer, there’s no wealth creation,” he said.

“The more money comes into the country, the richer it gets. When more money leaves the country than enters, the country becomes poor,” he explained. He said that the plan was to only use raw materials for the manufacturing of these bikes. He wants to take all possible steps to promote wealth creation, so Pakistan doesn’t have to go to the IMF again.

Khan also addressed the issue of city planning and expansion in Pakistan. He said, “Our cities don’t have any planning, so now we are making master plans for cities that should be complete in around 6 months. We want to plan for issues related to water supply, garbage, treatment plants, recycling, and worst of all, pollution.”

With this bike, the government hopes to take steps towards achieving its goals of the electric vehicle market having a 30% share in passenger vehicles by 2030 and a 90% share in heavy-duty trucks by 2040.