According to an EDB letter published on Tuesday, the Engineering Development Board (EDB) has convened approved mobile phone manufacturers on November 10 for preliminary discussions to establish the new policy on mobile device and affiliated equipment manufacturing.
New Mobile Phones Manufacturing Policy Meeting
After the Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy 2020-23 (MDMP 2020-23) expired this year, the board requested the meeting.
The strategy, which was introduced by the then-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led administration, was successful in attracting 31 mobile businesses to Pakistan.
“The current and proposed tariff of local manufacturing of mobile devices and selection of items and preparation of tariff structure for allied equipment such as POS machines, tablets etc for promotion of eco-system will be analyzed,” stated the letter sent to authorized mobile phone manufacturers.
It was also stated that discussions on the proposed policy’s localization plan will take place.
EDB Letter Content
According to the letter, a study of the list of importable components for inclusion or exclusion from manufacturer quotas, as well as the list of importable components with respect to the minimum number of parts and components, will be completed.
Source of financing, collection and payout mechanism for R&D allowance and export subsidies; feasibility of 3% or 8% as recommended will be assessed.
Aside from that, the ease of doing business, reduction of regulatory load on industry, completion and approval dates for policy documents will be defined.
CEO EDB
The meeting will be presided over by CEO EDB, who works for the Ministry of Industries and Production. The CEO may also enable any other topic to be discussed.
EDB initially invited only permission holders for mobile phone manufacture, stating that the board will convene meetings with other stakeholders after the preliminary report was completed.
It has previously been stated that the MDMP 2020-23 permitted local mobile manufacturing and assembly, which has resulted in around $300 million in investment and 50,000 jobs over the last two years, beginning in January 2021.
Among the companies were well-known names like Xaomi, Samsung, Nokia, Oppo, TECNO, Infinix, Vgotel, and Q-mobile.
Decrease in Local Manufacturing
Local manufacturing facilities produced/assembled 21.94 million phone handsets in calendar year 2022, compared to 24.66 million in 2021, indicating a decrease due to challenges in imports caused by restrictions on the creation of letters of credit (LC).
Meanwhile, the number of commercially imported phone handsets in 2022 was 1.53 million, a considerable decrease from 10.26 million in 2021 and 24.51 million in 2020.
To read our blog on “2.35 m domestically produced mobiles in Feb; 0.19 m imported,” click here.
