The federal government has decided to allow the import of mobile phone parts into the country for local Assembly. This reversal will help in resuming local manufacturing of mobile phones.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had placed the completely knocked down (CKD) kits of mobile phones in the list of items for which approval from the central bank is needed before the banks can open Letters of Credit (LCs).
In Islamabad, the President of the Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association (PMPMA), Muzaffar Hussain Paracha, has announced that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has given permission for the opening of LCs for the import of mobile phone parts.
He has praised the government for removing the obstacles which were hindering the manufacturing of mobile phones in the country, stating that this will help the mobile phone industry in the country to grow and create employment opportunities.
The Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association (PMPMA) recently held talks with the government to request the removal of the ban on the import of mobile phone components.
According to data from the association, 9.72 million mobile phones were manufactured or assembled in Pakistan between January and April 2022.
In the same period, only 0.86 million mobile phones were imported. This trend continued in April 2022, with 2.56 million mobile phones manufactured or assembled locally, compared to only 0.25 million imported.
According to a report, the mobile handset manufacturing industry in the country saw a significant increase in production in 2021. A total of 24.66 million mobile phones were manufactured/assembled locally in 2021, compared to 13.05 million in 2020 – showing an 88% increase.
The report also notes that the exports of overall merchandise from the country witnessed an increase of 27.78 percent during the first eleven months of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of last year. These numbers show a positive trend for the future of the mobile handset manufacturing industry in the country.
According to PBS data, the exports from the country were recorded at $28.848 billion during July-May (2021-22) against the exports of $22.576 billion recorded during July-May (2020-21), showing growth of 27.78 percent.
The imports during the months under review also went up by 44.28 percent growing from $50.028 billion last year to $72.182 billion in July-May (2021-22).
