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Government Aims to Decrease Mobile Phone Imports by Local Manufacturing in Pakistan
The caretaker Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Dr Umar Saif, has expressed the government’s desire to reduce the import of mobile phones by promoting the local manufacturing of cheap and quality mobile phones in Pakistan. Dr Saif emphasized the Ministry’s commitment to bolstering Pakistan’s IT and telecom sector.
Pakistan is currently the seventh largest mobile phone market globally, with around 190 million mobile phones in use. By encouraging local manufacturing, the government aims to not only decrease imports but also create job opportunities and develop the hi-tech industry in Pakistan.
According to official data, local manufacturing plants in Pakistan assembled a total of 6.07 million mobile handsets during the first five months of 2023, while only 0.53 million were imported commercially. In June 2023 alone, 1.19 million mobile handsets were produced locally, compared to 0.12 million commercially imported ones.
However, local manufacturing plants experienced a decline in production compared to the previous year. In 2022, they manufactured 21.94 million mobile handsets, whereas in 2021, the figure stood at 24.66 million. This decrease can be attributed to import-related issues, such as restrictions on the opening of Letters of Credit (LCs).
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reported that out of the total mobile handsets assembled in 2022, approximately 21.94 million were locally manufactured, while only 1.53 million were commercially imported. The locally manufactured handsets comprised 4.77 million 2G devices and 1.3 million smartphones.
Additionally, according to PTA data, 56 percent of mobile devices on the Pakistan network are smartphones, while 44 percent are still 2G devices.
The government’s push for local manufacturing of mobile phones aims to reduce imports and strengthen Pakistan’s economy by fostering job creation and technological advancement.
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