ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has given the green light to Samsung, the South Korean electronics behemoth, to begin manufacturing mobile phones in Pakistan through its local partner Lucky Motor Corporation Ltd.
The PTA granted Lucky Motor a Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) licence on Tuesday, allowing the company to set up an assembly plant in Karachi to produce Korean mobile gadgets.
The PTA has issued roughly 25 MDM authorisations for the production of mobile devices (2G/3G/4G) to foreign and local firms so far.
Locally manufactured mobile devices will be exported as well, resulting in a large reduction in mobile device and accessory imports.
In a statement, the PTA said, “The authorization to manufacture Samsung mobile devices in Pakistan was a milestone achievement that would assist further revolutionise the thriving mobile manufacturing ecosystem in Pakistan.”
Existing businesses such as Airlink, which manufactures key Chinese mobile phone brands such as Huawei, have welcomed the addition of Samsung to the list of corporations that have opened assembly lines in the nation.
“Currently, Chinese businesses have put up practically all of the production lines, and the advent of the Korean giant would considerably strengthen the mobile set manufacturing sector,” said Airlink CEO Muzzaffar Hayat Piracha.
He went on to say that while most manufacturers’ present concentration is on the assembly line, there is also a lot of opportunity and investment in the sales and marketing side. As the IT and telecom industry becomes more competitive, one of the mobile device manufacturing companies plans to raise funds through the stock market.
Airlink is preparing to conduct the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the IT and telecom sector, with the book building process taking place on August 30 and 31.
Mr Hayat stated, “We hope to generate between Rs5.85 billion and Rs8 billion through the stock market flotation of the company’s shares.”
Source: www.dawn.com
