Due to a shortage of raw materials brought on by import restrictions, nearly all of Pakistan’s 30 mobile phone assembly facilities have closed, putting the country’s mobile phone sector on the verge of collapse.
The import of crucial machinery and components required in the production of mobile phones has been halted by the limitations, which result from government rules that make it challenging for importers to get letters of credit from banks.
Due to this, the majority of businesses have given their staff members furloughs throughout the holy month of Ramadan after paying them half of their April salary in advance. Workers have been informed that they will receive a callback as soon as production picks back up.
PMPMA Released a Report On Mobile Phone Shortages
The Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association (PMPMA), according to a report released yesterday, has informed the nation’s IT ministry that the local mobile supply has almost completely ceased and that the marketplaces have also begun to experience mobile phone shortages.
The PMPMA has notified the IT ministry that the country’s mobile industry, which consists of 30 manufacturers, including three foreign firms, is in danger of closing down since many investors might switch their attention to other industries.
According to mobile manufacturers, for the industry to run at full capacity, $170 million in imported parts and components are needed each month.
But, due to a lack of dollars, the government is forbidding the opening of credit letters, and since the final week of December, no LC had been opened.
The industry was given a monthly quota of $83 million from May to December of last year, which was almost half of the industry’s total LC demand. After that period, manufacturers anticipated that foreign investors would withdraw their capital.
“It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan had been producing over 2.5 million phones per month on average in April last year, catering to around 90 percent of the total demand, and only the high-end sets are imported.
The situation started worsening after the Imran Khan-led government was ousted by the opposition through a vote of no confidence in April last year after being accused of causing rising inflation.”
Twenty thousand young Pakistanis work in the mobile phone sector directly, and another twenty thousand indirectly.
The PMPMA has requested that the government permit the import of parts in an amount that would be sufficient for the industry to operate at half-capacity.
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