Over the next three years, the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication has set an ambitious goal to earn $500 million from the export of smartphones.
According to ministry documents, Pakistan’s government is actively working on creating plans to increase regional producers’ competitiveness in the international market for smartphones.
Ministry of IT and Telecommunication
The MoITT document states that the government intends to provide mobile manufacturers with a 3% research and development allowance, with intentions to raise this amount to 8% in the upcoming years, in order to stimulate the local mobile industry.
Pakistan is currently the seventh-largest cellular user market globally, with about 189 million individuals, or 78% of the population, possessing a mobile phone, according to the IT Ministry.
Pakistan produced 21.28 million phones domestically in 2023, while 1.58 million were imported.
Pakistan’s IT ministry claims that even with its substantial domestic production capability, the country now exports only a small amount of smartphones—roughly 250,000 units, valued at about $150 million.
Notwithstanding, there exists substantial opportunity for expansion in the export industry, given that 33 handset manufacturers are present in the nation and have the capacity to fulfill the whole annual demand of 25 million phones from the domestic market.
Additionally, Pakistan has already seen the creation of some 40,000 jobs through local mobile phone manufacture, which has boosted the country’s economy and created job prospects.
In the future, the government intends to develop a policy for the indigenization of parts, with a particular emphasis on items like USB cables, hands-free sets, chargers, batteries, and packaging.
Pakistan intends to further solidify its position in the global smartphone industry and propel economic development in the nation by encouraging domestic manufacture and improving the value chain.
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