Like the auto industry in Pakistan, the mobile phone industry has attracted at least 36 companies to manufacture or assemble smartphones under the government’s 2020 policies.
Like the auto industry in Pakistan, the mobile phone industry has attracted at least 36 companies to manufacture or assemble smartphones under the government’s 2020 policies.
According to officials, the previous government’s “Make in Pakistan” policy resulted in the establishment of 31 companies in the country that manufacture a large number of well-known international mobile phone brands.
According to the data, domestic manufacturing plants produced over 19.7 million phone handsets in the first 11 months of 2022, compared to only 1.37 million commercially imported phone handsets. According to data provided by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), local manufacturing plants produced 1.56 million mobile phone handsets in November 2022.
Despite increased domestic production, the country imported $ 290.57 million in mobile phones during the first five months of the current fiscal year 2022-23 (July-November).However, this was a 66.08 percent decrease from last year’s same-period imports of $ 856.73 million.
The Ministry of Industries and Production (MoI&P) will hold a mobile device manufacturing summit on Tuesday to discuss further expansion and issues concerning the newly flourishing industry. According to Engineering Development Board (EDB) officials, the relevant department of the MoI & P is co-organizing the summit with the Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association.
The Federal Minister for Board of Investment will deliver the keynote address, and the event will also include an exhibition of technology and products by the members of the association, including Xiaomi, Realmi, Infinix, Tecno, Itel, Alcatel, G-Five, Oppo, Vivo, Premier Code, etc. The exhibition will be open to the general public.
The goal of organising this summit-cum-exhibition, according to officials, is to gather input from all relevant stakeholders, including mobile device manufacturers, government officials from MoI&P, PTA, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Tariff Commission, the Board of Investment, the Ministry of IT & Telecom, the Federal Board of Revenue, and academia, in order to boost local assembly of mobile devices by increasing investment and employment opportunities in this sector.
The summit will concentrate on the localization of mobile manufacturing parts and components, the localization of allied equipment such as laptops and tablets, the export of mobile phones, and the promotion of ease of doing business in Pakistan. This summit is expected to benefit the mobile device manufacturing sector by facilitating additional collaborations with international counterparts, which can boost the competitiveness of the sector.
The EDB developed the mobile device manufacturing policy in 2020 with the goal of promoting local manufacturing of mobile devices in Pakistan and providing an appealing environment for investors under the government’s “Make in Pakistan” policy.
According to PTA data, smart phones account for 55% of mobile devices in the country, with the remaining 45% using the 2G Pakistan network.