ISLAMABAD: The Minis­­­try of Industries and Pro­duction (MoIP) expects that the new mobile phone manufacturing industry could be larger than the existing automotive industry in the coming years due to high demand and expansion in coverage areas across the country, the Engineering Development Board (EDB) said on Wednesday.

In its report, the EDB — which is a technical arm of the MoIP — highlighted that to further boost the electronics sector, work has already started on framework for local assembly of tablets, allied equipment and mobile accessories in near future.

The report notes that mobile phone manufacturing industry is expected to become larger than the automotive industry of Pakistan in terms of turnover in a few years and employment is expected to grow manifold.

The EDB report has been formulated in line with the Mobile Device Manufactur­ing Policy of the Pakistan Telecom Authority, whereas the manufacturing plants fall under the ambit of the EDB.

“TranssionTecno, Kara­chi-based company assembles three brands including Itel, Infinix and Tecno, has increased local assembly from 150,000 units to 650,000 units per month, it said.

“Airlink Communication Ltd has commenced its test trials at its plant in Lahore, and has the production capacity of 500,000 to 800,000 units per month,” it added.

EDB General Manager Policy Asim Ayaz said that the mobile device manufacturing policy provides sufficient advantage to the local manufacturing of mobile phones especially below the price range of $200 in comparison with imported sets.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2021