The first draft of the mobile device policy has been cleared by The Board of Management of Engineering Development Board (EDB) for the submission to the Ministry of Industries & Production.
The mobile device policy will be announced on November 2019, declared Abdul Razak Dawood, Prime Minister Advisor on Commerce, Industries and Production and Investment on October 7, 2019
The manufacturing of mobile devices was already started by a Karachi based company but the delay of decision and lobbying the importers have delayed the policy.
As per EBD, after the extensive stakeholder consultation, the policy was drafted considering to encourage the local manufacturers in technology.
Pakistan is the 7th largest market of mobile phones in the world the annual sale reached up to 34 million in 2019. With the increase in demand, the market can be developed in the industry to produce its locally-made mobile device in the international market.
The main purpose of the policy was to make the engineering sector one of the largest export-oriented sectors of Pakistan. This implies if the export of the textile sector would cross the $12 billion benchmark within the next 8-10 years then the cell phone industry can contribute $500 million to $1 billion in the export of engineering goods.
