The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is spearheading efforts to bring the chip design and semiconductor industry to Pakistan, with discussions centering on establishing a government-to-business (G2B) chip designing facility. This initiative, as reported by Express Tribune, aims to cultivate a robust semiconductor industry within the country.
To realize this vision, the government is engaging with foreign investors, particularly from China and the US, offering tax incentives and support programs to attract them to establish chip designing centers in Pakistan. The proposed roadmap emphasizes starting from testing and research phases before advancing to full-scale semiconductor manufacturing, which may require an investment of $6-7 billion along with adequately trained human resources.
Industry stakeholders emphasize the importance of gaining the trust of major players like Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Unisoc. They also highlight the need to update Pakistan’s curriculum to produce the skilled workforce necessary for this initiative.
Pakistan’s strength in the mobile phone industry, with its high sales volume, presents an opportunity to support local brands in expanding their market share, localizing components, adding value, and protecting intellectual property rights.
The groundwork for developing the chip and semiconductor industry was laid in 2022 with the Pakistan National Semiconductor Plan. This plan identified challenges such as Pakistan’s reputation for being business-unfriendly, a shortage of trained graduates in chip design, and the absence of incentive plans for chip designing companies.
The Pakistan National Semiconductor Plan recommends improvements in the ease of doing business, the establishment of advanced training centers, offering world-class incentives to attract international companies, streamlining customs procedures, and reducing costs to make Pakistan a more attractive destination for semiconductor manufacturing.
