News Report
Made in Pakistan Mobiles go on rising that has resulted in saving of US$410 million on foreign exchange.
The import of manufactured or Completely Built Units (CBU) has dropped whereas that of mobile phone components (CKD) is on the rise.
During July-November 2021, the import of CBU has witnessed a sharp decline by 73% to USD 179 million.
It stood at USD $661 million during the same period last year, resulting in a saving of USD 410 million in foreign exchange.
But, the import of mobile phone components for local assembly jumped up by 407% to USD 674 million against USD 133 million last year.
Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment held a meeting to review progress.
He examined the progress of the export of locally-manufactured mobile phones under the Make-in-Pakistan policy.
Officials informed Dawood that around about 80 to 85% of the market is for phones priced at $200 or below in Pakistan.
Officials informed Mobile Phone Manufacturing Policy was yielding results.
The government had approved incentives for local manufacturing of mobile phones in Pakistan.
They informed that the majority of phones were cheaper than $200.
The manufacturers were assembling these mobile phones in Pakistan.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)’s Device Identification and Registration System (DIRBS) had helped curb mobile phones’ smuggling.
It is also interesting that Chinese manufacturers capture about half of the market share.
They had been quick to avail themselves of the incentives government had offered as the “First-Mover’s advantage” in the market.
They had imported mobiles in Semi Knocked-Down (SKD) condition which they assembled in Pakistan later.
It has not resulted in the saving of foreign exchange but boosted industrial activity and created employment.
Officials informed Samsung has also recently kicked off assembling mobile phones in Pakistan.
Razak Dawood unveiled the role of mobile phones in running the businesses of SMEs.
He said smartphones had gained importance all over the world as they were helping SMEs to run their businesses.
As the PTI came into power, Pakistan was a net importer of mobile phones.
However, the situation has reversed due to the creation of jobs in this sector.
He added the vision of the current government was to list Pakistan as a hub of mobile phone manufacturing and export.
Dawood said that the export of mobile phones will start soon to fetch foreign exchange for the country”.