Govt finalises draft policy for locally assembled mobile phones – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Engineering Development Board (EDB) on Tuesday finalized a draft of the Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy that focuses on replacing imported phones with locally assembled and manufactured phones.

In addition, the council was directed by an advisor to the prime minister to decide the policy for next month.

During a board briefing for Abdul Razak Dawood, the adviser to the prime minister of industries and production told the EDB to finalize the policy for next month that includes semi-demolished kits (SKD) and completely demolished kits (CKD) in the country.

"The companies will opt for SKD, which is the assembly of assemblies with imported parts and in later stages the manufacture of parts will begin in the country under CKD," said an EDB official.

EDB is a government agency that works to support the engineering sector and depends on the ministry of industries and production.

The EDB, which has suggested that the tariffs on the parts be reduced and certain benefits offered for the manufacture of the parts, so that the mobile assemblies assembled through SKD and CKD are cheaper than the imported mobile assemblies as completely units built (CBU).

The adviser was told that of the 26 approvals, 15 assembly units of mobile phone sets were operating primarily in Karachi and the center of Punjab, but only produced analog sets and only a limited number of units assembled smartphones locally.

A senior EDB official said Dawn that due to the influx of first-line smuggling smartphones, the local assembly of the phones had been delayed.

But he said that "after the severe actions of the PTA [Pakistan Telecommunica­tions Authority], mobile phone smuggling has stopped since these equipment will not work in the country, "the official said at the meeting, adding that high-performance structures had also discouraged the importation of smartphones.

The advisor said at the meeting that Special Economic Zones (EEZs) were providing technical and financial support through various incentives by granting tax exemptions and tax exemptions on parts used in mobile phones and other electronic products.

Posted on Dawn, October 9, 2019