ISLAMABAD: Pakistan exported 120,000 mobile phone sets to various markets in the Middle East and Africa in the current month, but the local manufacturer expressed dissatisfaction over the quantum.

Addressing a ceremony held at the Pakistan Tele­communication Auth­ority (PTA) headquarters to mark the achievement, Member (Finance) Muha­mmad Naveed and Member (Compl­iance & Enfor­cement) Dr Khawar Sidd­ique Khokhar extended their support for the development of a mobile device manufacturing ecosystem in Pakistan.

It was the second export consignment by the country’s only mobile phone exporter — Inovi Telecom Pvt Ltd — since it was granted a mobile device manufacturing licence in April 2021.

The current order was received in October and the deliveries have been made in December to be sold in the Middle East as well as in the African markets.

Inovi Telecom CEO Zeeshan Mian Noor, however, expressed concerns that the low quantum will not benefit the mobile manufacturing sector and regular export orders were essential for the growth of the industry.

Quota restrictions for the import of raw materials were the key hurdle the manufacturers had been confronted with among other issues, he added.

“The mobile industry has been given $83 million quota for opening letters of credit per annum to import key components for mobile phone set assembly, while the industry needed raw materials worth $185m to meet the market demand, ” Mr Noor said.

He added that when the manufacturers were not able to meet the demand from the Pakistani buyers how can mobile phones be exported?

A mobile phone maker told Dawn that the government did not keep its promise to give 3pc R&D allowance to mobile manufacturers.

“Inconsistent government policies are discouraging international brands to start manufacturing mobile phones in Pakistan for exporting to any region including the Middle East, Central Asia or even China where cheap phones are no more manufactured,” he added.

Currently, there are 31 mobile phone licence holders including Samsung, Nokia, Xiaomi and other famous Chinese brands.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2022