Pakistan: The Next Electronics Manufacturing Hub?
Soaring demand for consumer electronics and low labor costs are attracting major global smartphone manufacturers like Samsung to Pakistan. In 2021, local manufacturers produced 25 million handsets, up a whopping 88% increase from 13 million produced in 2020. A key factor credited for this rapid production ramp-up is the new Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy announced and implemented by former Prime Minister Imran Khan's government in 2020. It imposes high tariffs on the import of mobile phone sets and offers tax rebates for local manufacturing. The policy set a 49% localization target by June 2023, including 10% localization of components on the motherboard and 10% localization of batteries. Pakistan is forecast to be the world's 7th largest consumer market by 2030. The key to attracting more manufacturing in Pakistan lies in continuation of pro-investment policies and a measure of political stability.
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| Pakistan Going From Imports to Exports of Mobile Handsets. Source: PIDE |
The local manufacturing plants have assembled 14.08 million mobile phone handsets in the first six months (January-June) of 2022, while imports declined to 1.14 million handsets, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Implementation of Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) and conducive government policies including the Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy 2020 have created a favorable environment for mobile device manufacturing in Pakistan.
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| Pakistan Mobile Phone Market. Source: PIDE |
In addition to Samsung, a number of Chinese mobile handset manufacturers are investing in Pakistan to ramp up local production. Itel has manufactured 3.91 million mobile devices followed by VGO Tel's 2.97 million, Infinix 2.65 million, Vivo 2.45 million, Techno 1.87 million, QQMEE 0.86 million and Oppo 0.67 million. After the export of the first lot of 4G smartphones to the UAE in 2022, Pakistan has now set $1 billion target for mobile phone exports for the current fiscal year.
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| Pakistan Telecom Indicators. Source: PTA |
Pakistan wants to emulate Vietnam which has emerged as one of the leading countries in the assembly and export of smartphones and other consumer electronics devices in the past decade. Apple has recently moved part of its iPad manufacturing to Vietnam from China, where Covid lockdowns have disrupted supply chains. TRT World has recently quoted Quentin D’Silva, the head of Lucky's smartphone division in Pakistan, as saying, “It’s only in the last five to seven years that the smartphone business has mushroomed in developing countries like ours".
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Pakistan's military-run enterprises need upgrade to revive economy
Corporate empire has potential to be globally competitive
By Uzair Younus
https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Pakistan-s-military-run-enterprises-need-upgrade-to-revive-economy
It is time to accept that rather than trying to cut this empire down to size, it may be more fruitful to develop Military Inc. 2.0: a corporate empire that is globally competitive.
Pakistan's military began playing a role in the economy soon after independence. The construction of the 805-km cross-border Karakoram Highway in the Himalayas was a major inflection point. The Frontier Works Organization was formed then with the mission to construct the highway on the Pakistani side.
Today, military-run organizations have their tentacles spread across the entire economy, with the military-owned Fauji Foundation being one of the largest conglomerates in the country. The government has exempted both the Army Welfare Trust and the Fauji Foundation from income taxes, giving them an edge over privately owned companies.
The military also operates housing developments across the country, with the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) a dominant force in the country's real estate sector. While the initial aim was to develop homes for serving and retired military personnel, DHA has since evolved into a multibillion-dollar entity with a presence in all major cities.
The military's economic footprint, however, is indicative of broader economic issues plaguing Pakistan. For decades, Pakistan's civilian and military elites have extracted wealth by engaging in highly protected, low-productivity sectors. As a result, Pakistani businesses are both globally uncompetitive and provide shoddy services to domestic consumers.
An example is the DHA project in Karachi, built on land reclaimed from the Arabian Sea. The predominant role enjoyed by the military meant that development of the DHA site occurred without proper access to proper stormwater drainage, resulting in multimillion-dollar homes, paid for in cash, routinely being flooded during monsoon rains.
Political volatility and instability have further compounded the problems, leading to an anemic rate of foreign direct investment, particularly in export-oriented sectors. The result: recurring balance of payments crises that require bailouts.
To emerge from this crisis, Pakistan's military must learn from its strategic ally China. While the Chinese regime also began with military-run organizations developing public infrastructure, over the decades, it has developed companies that have a more global outlook.
In addition, China focused on improving quality by leveraging technology while also investing in global best practices. This ensured that the country built globally competitive businesses that enhanced China's technological reach, such as telecommunications group Huawei Technologies.
Pakistan's military would do well to mimic China's strategy to become globally connected, competitive and innovative.
Such a reconfiguration may solve Pakistan's macroeconomic challenges and recurring external crises, as the military is finding it difficult to muster resources required to compete with an India that is growing at a faster pace and rapidly modernizing its military. This is tilting the balance of power in the region toward India, creating national security risks for Pakistan.
Critics will argue that reorienting the military's corporate empire will only worsen the challenges facing Pakistan's floundering democracy. This concern is valid, but Pakistan's growing economic challenges mean that it is time to prioritize sustainable growth and socioeconomic development.
Changing the military's corporate approach is likely to create the space for broader economic reforms that are urgently needed to end Pakistan's protracted economic decline.
It's not perfect but when life gives you lemons you make lemonade
This is the best shot you got
Concentrate 100% energy on agriculture and water conservation.
Lower food prices, increase output. And start exporting excess.
Allah has given us all kinds of fertile lands. Use it.
Maersk and SEED Ventures collaborate to improve agricultural exports from Pakistan
July 28, 2022
By Jack Donnelly
https://www.porttechnology.org/news/maersk-and-seed-ventures-collaborate-to-improve-agricultural-exports-from-pakistan/
Maersk Pakistan Private Limited (Maersk) and SEED Ventures have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch the Pakistan Agripreneurship Challenge (PAC).
PAC is an Agri-value chain intervention challenge that aims to improve the quality of Pakistan’s agricultural produce and explore new global markets for Pakistan’s agriculture exporters.
In 2020, Pakistan produced 5.6 million metric tons of vegetables, of which the resulting export produce amounted to $4.92 million. In contrast, the Netherlands producing 5.3 million metric tons of vegetables, could export $31 billion worth of produce.
The comparison, Maersk argues, showcases Pakistan is not meeting its export potential for vegetables.
Issues pertaining to storage, transport & distribution are significant roadblocks for the Agri sector, and Maersk claims it is evident that a holistic value chain intervention is required for the post-harvest category.
PAC is an agripreneurship challenge that calls upon Agri ventures, innovators, farmers and agriculture students to participate and develop innovative solutions to solve the post-harvest challenges in Pakistan for vegetable produce.
The shortlisted finalists from the challenge will be given the opportunity to realise their innovative agripreneurship solutions by Maersk and SEED.
The 20 July collaboration signed between SEED Ventures and Maersk aims to identify potential solutions to support Pakistan in meeting its export potential.
Hasan Faraz, Managing Director, Maersk Pakistan, commented: “At Maersk, our purpose is to improve life for all by integrating the world. We are delighted to partner with SEED Ventures and contribute to improving Pakistan’s agricultural sector.”
What Tata’s $90bn pivot to its home market says about the planet’s fifth-biggest economy
https://www.economist.com/business/2022/09/14/the-worlds-biggest-bet-on-india
If you want to glimpse the frontier of Indian capitalism, take a trip to Tamil Nadu in the south of the country. New factories with solar panels on their roofs lie on a vast 550-acre (220-hectare) site. Inside, it is reported, Tata is making components for the latest iPhones on behalf of Apple—and in the process finally connecting India to the world’s most sophisticated supply chain, which used to be anchored to China.
The project is not a one-off. It is part of a new and staggering $90bn investment surge by India’s biggest business that is repositioning itself towards its home market and away from its 30-year strategy of fanning out globally. Tata’s ambition to create electronics factories and semiconductor fabs in India could transform its economy. “I firmly believe that this is going to be India’s decade,” says Natarajan Chandrasekaran, who runs the holding company, Tata Sons, which oversees the group. The change in strategy also reflects the dramatic psychological shift within the business world’s most ardent globalisers, as they adapt to new megatrends. These include the rebasing of strategic manufacturing away from China; the rise of a new energy system; and industrial policy, which in India is being championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Anyone who follows India, the world’s fastest-growing big economy, may be under the impression that it is run by Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, two swaggering tycoons, whose conglomerates generate headlines and make them Asia’s richest men. Together the “two As” may spend over $100bn in the next five years. Yet Tata is in fact the country’s biggest business measured by market value ($269bn) and operating profits ($16bn last year), spanning everything from steel mills to software. And we estimate that its new plans are larger than any other individual firm’s, encompassing electric vehicles (evs), electronics, battery gigafactories, clean power and chips (see chart 1). If that doesn’t sound ambitious enough, it has also taken on the Everest of corporate turnarounds, buying Air India.
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But even Tata, which considers itself aloof from politics, has paid symbolic homage to Mr Modi’s populist nationalism. In 2019 Mr Tata visited the headquarters of the rss, the Hindu-chauvinist association that backs Mr Modi. In the same year Mr Modi attended the launch of a book by Mr Chandrasekaran. The Tata charities are also working more closely with the state, for example on hospitals. And Tata is participating in India’s $26bn manufacturing-subsidy scheme (though it insists the handouts are too small to swing investment decisions).
https://propakistani.pk/2022/12/14/pakistan-exports-120000-locally-manufactured-mobile-phones/
The export ceremony of locally manufactured mobile phones by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Authorization holder Inovi Telecom was held at PTA headquarters today.
The ceremony was held to mark Inovi’s achievement of the export of 120,000 locally made mobile phones of the SEGO brand to the United Arab Emirates for African markets.
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Inovi Telecom is the first company to export locally manufactured mobile phones in large quantities. Inovi’s CEO appreciated PTA for its active support and for taking measures to help bolster the mobile industry. Moreover, both PTA Members extended their continued support for the development of a mobile device manufacturing ecosystem in Pakistan.
Inovi Telecom Pvt. Ltd was issued Mobile Device Manufacturing Authorization on 9th April 2021 in accordance with the PTA Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations, 2021.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-09/iphone-exports-from-india-double-to-surpass-2-5-billion?leadSource=uverify%20wall
Foxconn Technology Group and Wistron Corp. have each shipped more than $1 billion of Apple’s marquee devices abroad in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending March 2023, people familiar with the matter said. Pegatron Corp., another major contract manufacturer for Apple, is on track to move about $500 million of the gadgets overseas by the end of January, the people said, asking not to be identified revealing private information.
Apple’s rapidly growing export numbers illustrate how it is ramping up operations outside of China, where chaos at Foxconn’s main plant in Zhengzhou exposed vulnerabilities in the Cupertino-headquartered company’s supply chain and forced it to trim output estimates. That compounded a broader problem with evaporating demand for electronics as consumers weigh the risks of a global recession.
Apple, the world’s most valuable company, began assembling its latest iPhone models in India only last year, a significant break from its practice of reserving much of that for giant Chinese factories run by its main Taiwanese assemblers including Foxconn.
While India makes up just a fraction of iPhone output, rising exports bode well for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to make the country an alternative to China as factory to the world.
China’s Covid Zero policies and an episode of violence at the Zhengzhou plant — nicknamed iPhone City as the world’s biggest production center for the device — laid bare the dangers of relying on the country. While Beijing has since dropped that approach to containing the virus, Apple and other global names are exploring alternative locations more than ever before.
India’s vast workforce, Modi’s support and a thriving local market make it a prime candidate to take on more electronics manufacturing. Foxconn, Apple’s largest supplier, began building facilities in the country more than five years ago in anticipation of a need to extend its geographic range.
One recent selling point is a raft of new government incentives, a cornerstone of Modi’s drive to make India an electronics manufacturing hub. Foxconn has won 3.6 billion rupees ($44 million) of benefits in the first year of the so-called production-linked incentives scheme, while Wistron’s claims are currently being processed, the people said.
Representatives for Apple, Foxconn and Wistron didn’t respond to emails seeking comment. A Pegatron spokesperson declined to comment.
Apple’s contract manufacturers currently make iPhones at plants in southern India. But production in the country is just beginning. About 3 million of the devices were made in India in 2021, compared with 230 million in China, according to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates.
Foxconn began making the iPhone 14 in India a few months ago — sooner than anticipated — after a surprisingly smooth production rollout that slashed the lag between Chinese and Indian output from months to mere weeks. Apple’s three Taiwanese partners currently assemble iPhones 11 to 14 in India.
But moving out of China, where Apple has built a deep supply chain for close to two decades, isn’t easy. A Bloomberg Intelligence analysis estimated it would take about eight years to move just 10% of Apple’s production capacity out of China, where roughly 98% of the company’s iPhones are being made.
India tracks production and exports of all smartphone makers who enjoy financial incentives as part of Modi’s push.
Beyond smartphones, the country is drawing up plans to boost financial incentives for tablet and laptop makers, hoping to woo Apple to make everything from earphones to MacBooks locally as well as attract other brands. The iPhone maker is also expected to open its first retail store in India in 2023, after meeting certain criteria imposed on foreign retailers.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2023/01/23/mobile-policy-attracts-36-companies-to-manufacture-smartphones-in-the-country/
Like the auto industry in Pakistan, the mobile phone industry has also attracted at least 36 companies to manufacture/assemble smartphones under the policies introduced by the government in 2020.
According to officials, the ‘Make in Pakistan’ policy introduced by the previous Imran Khan government has resulted in the establishment of 31 companies which manufacture a great number of renowned international mobile phone brands in the country.
As per the data, local manufacturing plants have manufactured over 19.7 million phone handsets during the first 11 months of 2022 compared to just 1.37 million commercially imported phone handsets. Data provided by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reveals that the local manufacturing plants assembled 1.56 million mobile phone handsets in November 2022
Despite the increase in local production, the country imported mobile phones worth $ 290.57 million during the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year 2022-23. However, this was a decrease of 66.08 percent when compared to the imports of the same period last year at $ 856.73 million.
To review further expansion and issues related to the newly flourishing industry, the Ministry of Industries & Production (MoI&P) will hold a mobile device manufacturing summit on Tuesday (today). As per the officials of the Engineering Development Board (EDB), the relevant department of the MoI&P is jointly organising the summit in collaboration with the Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association.
The summit will be addressed by the Federal Minister for Board of Investment, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, and will also include an exhibition of technology and products by the members of association including Xiaomi, Realmi, Infinix, Tecno, Itel, Alcatel, G-Five, Oppo, Vivo, Premier Code etc. The exhibition will be open for targeted general public.
According to officials, the purpose of organising this summit-cum-exhibition is to get input from all the relevant stakeholders which includes mobile device manufacturers, government officials from MoI&P, PTA, Ministry of Commerce, National Tariff Commission, Board of Investment, Ministry of IT & Telecom, Federal Board of Revenue and academia to boost local assembly of mobile devices through enhancing investment and employment opportunities in this sector.
The summit will focus on the localisation of parts and components used in mobile manufacturing, localisation of allied equipment like laptops and tablets, targeting export of mobile phones and promoting ease of doing business in Pakistan. The mobile device manufacturing sector is expected to benefit from this summit as it will facilitate further collaborations with international counterparts which can enhance the competitiveness of the sector.
The mobile device manufacturing policy was formulated by EDB in 2020 with the aim to promote local manufacturing of mobile devices in Pakistan and to provide an attractive environment for investors under the “Make in Pakistan” policy of the government.
According to data by PTA, 55 percent of the mobile devices in the country are smart phones while the remaining 45 percent are on 2G Pakistan network.
@brecordernews
Indus Motor Company, the assembler of Toyota-brand vehicles in Pakistan, said on Tuesday that it has become the first company in the four-wheeler segment to start exports after it signed an agreement with Toyota Egypt.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40252013/pakistans-indus-motor-company-starts-exports-to-toyota-egypt-ceo
Agreement signed, Ali Asghar Jamali says 'too early' to deem it turning point for struggling auto sector
“We have already sent our first shipment this month,” Chief Executive Ali Asghar Jamali told Business Recorder.
A press release issued by the company also stated that the first consignment of semi-processed raw material to be shipped to Toyota Egypt will mark the “beginning of era from the export point of view by any original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in Pakistan and plans are in place to continue in this direction”.
Jamali said that while significant, it is “too early” to deem it a turning point for the struggling industry.
His remarks come as Pakistan’s auto sector, highly dependent on imports to meet its assembling needs, remains under pressure due to constraints on issuance of Letters of Credit (LCs). The hindrance comes on the back of Pakistan’s low foreign exchange reserves that triggered import restrictions.
While the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has lifted restrictions, it will take some time before normalcy returns.
At the same time, a fast-depreciating rupee pushed up prices of automobiles while runaway inflation also took Pakistan’s key interest rate to a record high, discouraging buyers from financing. In response, almost all auto sector’s players have been announcing plant shutdowns with regular monotony.
“This is a baby step at the moment,” said Jamali. “Currently, we have raw material constraints in the country. It would stop us from exporting huge quantities. But I am hopeful.”
The CEO said the company will only be exporting a certain part to Egypt.
“If their confidence is built, we may be asked to export more parts.
“Even if we manage to export one part to many markets, it would increase our export numbers.
“We hope that other manufacturers would also get confidence and find avenues to export as well,” he added.
A statement from the company, meanwhile, said the partnership with Toyota Egypt “is the first step to meet requirements set under the Auto Industry Development and Export Policy (AIDEP) 2021-2026”.
Yousuf M.Farooq
@YousufMFarooq
Localization
Full speed ahead
LED Lights Made in Pakistan !
The industry started with just assembling SKD kits imported from China.
Now the PCB, MCPCB, the constant current power supply, plastic parts, metal parts, wires and packaging are now all being Made in Pakistan.
https://twitter.com/YousufMFarooq/status/1694184000137375825?s=20
Xiaomi’s Local Partner to Start Selling TVs in Pakistan
Air Link aims to start assembling televisions in January
Mobile assembler also plans to ramp up mobile phone output
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-15/xiaomi-s-local-partner-to-start-selling-tvs-in-pakistan?in_source=embedded-checkout-banner
By Faseeh Mangi
August 15, 2023 at 1:40 AM PDT
Pakistan’s Air Link Communication Ltd. plans to start assembling Xiaomi Corp. televisions in January to sell in the world’s fifth-largest nation.
The companies, which forged a partnership two years ago to sell mobile phones in Pakistan, don’t expect major investment will be needed since the assembly lines for both products are quite similar, Air Link CEO Muzzaffar Hayat Piracha said in an interview.
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https://propakistani.pk/2023/08/15/air-link-communication-to-start-assembling-xiaomi-tvs-in-pakistan/
Piracha said that Air Link has become profitable in the past six months. The company aims to raise mobile phone production to around 500,000 per month by the end of the year, up from 300,000 currently, he added.
Air Link, which began operations as a mobile phone reseller just over 10 years ago, became Pakistan’s largest private sector public offering when it was listed at PSX in 2021. It has since become one of the country’s largest smartphone distributors.
Pakistan has recently seen a slight uptick in the revival of business operations by foreign enterprises ever since the International Monetary Fund agreed to a new bailout program to revive the economy. The IMF demanded that the country remove all import restrictions, which has appealed to distributors like Air Link.
The Quarterly Report for FY19 states that the consistency in the growth of the electronic market has not only attracted the interest of local investors but also the foreign investors. For example, the third largest television set producer in the world, TCL, has announced its plans to extend its operations in the Pakistani electronic market.
“Improvement in electricity supplies alongside an extended summer season drove the demand for the electronic goods. The consistent growth of the segment has attracted the attention of the foreign investors as well,” stated the report.
The report also highlights the factor that played a substantial role in electronic growth. The report suggests that the production of electronic appliances such as smartphones, different types of cooling equipment, electric motors, TVs, watches, and electronic security systems have found a considerable rise over the past few years.
However, the report presents an overall challenging macroeconomic environment during the first quarter of FY19. The report also shows a 4.0 to 4.5 percent growth in real gross domestic product, which is less than its October forecast of 4.7-5.2 percent growth.
“The primary concern was the steep rise in global crude prices, which not only reinforced the already strong underlying inflationary pressures in the economy but also eclipsed emerging improvements in the external sector,” it stated.
https://zigron.com/2024/05/24/why-pakistan-is-your-next-technology-hub/
Pakistan – The Next Technology Hub
The world will need 80M software engineers by 2030 to keep up with the technological pace. There will be a shortage of estimated 30M technologists, and with the Russia/Ukraine war, this gap will only grow. With India up to its neck and talent gobbled up by more prominent companies; Pakistan is the only logical destination for technology resource hiring. Pakistan has universities, advanced infrastructure, government policies, and existing 300,000 talent growing rapidly by multitudes. With all these in place, Pakistan is today’s destination for finding tech talent. With Zigron’s past and current experience of serving startups to multi-billion dollar organizations; Zigron is here to bridge this gap for the companies facing a shortage of skilled tech workers today and in the future.
Why is Pakistan being termed Asia’s next Tech Hub?
Pakistan is the 3rd largest IT-enabled services exporter, with more than 40 percent software development. Pakistan is continuously creating high-tech industries and expanding its cyber security, system integration, data center, and IT outsourcing, i.e., AI, ML, IoT, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, and Cloud Engineering. The biggest reason of all is that Pakistan is home to more than 144 universities; with some top-ranked world universities like NUST, GIKI, FAST, LUMS, UET, NED, etc., offering IT and Engineering degree programs that have so far produced over 300,000 IT professionals with expertise in AI/ML, Data Scientists, Full Stack, DB, DevOps, Designers, UI/UX, Embedded, Firmware Engineers, etc. In addition, they have been producing hardcore engineers like Electrical, CAD, Structural, Solar, Wind, Civil, Geotechnical, etc.
Pakistani universities are on the mission to make world-class talent and continue to do so with skills unmatched and dexterity unprecedented. Sky being the limit, skilled Pakistani talent is all you need to grow into a giant organization with technology expertise like AI, ML, IoT, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, Cloud, etc. With all the efforts to further support and advance these industries; Govt is expecting 50 billion USD annual exports from the technology sector by 2030. With a lot to offer in the tech industry; Pakistani engineers are fully equipped to play their vital role in helping companies grow and succeed. Zigron also takes huge pride in being a pioneer in offering top-of-scale IT services and Engineering talent globally over the past 15 years and continues to enrich the IT world with its state-of-the-art solutions and services.
Pakistan’s IT exports are at an all-time high, with over a 30 percent growth in the last eight months.
Pakistan has made significant successes in IT exports and crossed a mark of 2 billion USD last year. Although numbers are good; there is still a significantly undiscovered IT talent that is yet to be unleashed and utilized to the full extent. Seeing the tech-minded youth, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched a ‘Digital Pakistan’ initiative; focusing on connectivity, digital infrastructure, digital skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship to further upskill the unexplored talent. The government of Pakistan has taken the forefront to uplift tech minds and help them grow by establishing a Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) to develop a high-tech economy for rapid growth.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1888226
Ronin's new tech manufacturing facility enhances self-reliance, reduces imports, and boosts economic growth through quality smart wearables and accessories.
Pakistan has reached a remarkable milestone by developing a domestic industry for manufacturing and assembling earbuds, smartwatches, and other tech accessories. This remarkable achievement is made possible by Ronin, a homegrown brand offering quality smart wearables and tech accessories such as earbuds, smartwatches, headphones, neckbands, power banks, and other charging devices to consumers in Pakistan. It marks a significant step in the country’s progress toward industrial growth and self-reliance.
The demand for smart wearables and accessories has been growing rapidly in Pakistan because of the high consumption of mobile phones. Before this industry was established, Pakistan relied entirely on imports as different brands imported these products from overseas to meet the demand. This increased the trade deficit and filled the market with low-quality products, causing consumers to lose trust in these categories. However, Ronin’s achievement has changed everything.
Ronin, a prominent tech brand, has played a key role in making this vision a reality. By analysing the challenges in the market and recognising the immense potential, Ronin took the bold step of setting up a state-of-the-art industry dedicated to manufacturing and assembling smart wearables and accessories within Pakistan. This facility is now producing top-quality earbuds, smartwatches, headphones, neckbands, and other tech products domestically.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1280447-local-mobile-phone-manufacturing-rises-28pc-mom-in-december
On a quarterly basis, local production climbed to 8.79 million units in the fourth quarter of 2024, marking a 67 per cent rise compared to 5.25 million units in the third quarter. This surge pushed the total annual output for 2024 to 31.38 million units, reflecting a 47 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase, primarily driven by import restrictions imposed last year.
Despite this remarkable recovery, the YoY growth compared to 2022 remained at 43 percent, bolstered by factors such as economic stabilisation, a growing preference for locally assembled mobile phones amid higher taxes on imports, and a steadily increasing population, said Sunny Kumar, an analyst at Topline Research.
Out of the 31.38 million locally assembled mobile phones produced in 2024, smartphones accounted for 59 per cent (18.64 million units), while the remaining 41 per cent (12.74 million units) were 2G feature phones.
The top 10 brands contributing to local assembly included Infinix with 3.98 million units, followed by Itel (3.64 million units), VGO Tel (3.37 million units), Tecno (2.85 million units), Vivo (2.77 million units), Xiaomi (2.35 million units), Realme (1.76 million units), Samsung (1.51 million units), G’Five (1.44 million units) and Nokia (1.36 million units).
The data further revealed that local manufacturing fulfilled 95 per cent of the country’s mobile phone demand in 2024, compared to an average of 67 per cent over the past five years (2019-2023) and 47 per cent over the past eight years (2016-2023).
According to Topline Research, Tecno and Xiaomi smartphones ranked among the top 10 brands in 2024. Tecno’s production surged 97 per cent YoY to 2.85 million units, while Xiaomi’s production saw a 79 per cent YoY increase, reaching 2.35 million units.
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2025/0214/China-EV-boom-Pakistan-trade
Amid the ornately painted trucks bellowing smoke and the green and yellow tuk-tuks, the Chinese-made Haval Hybrid Electric Vehicle has become a ubiquitous sight on the streets of Islamabad.
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Some are looking to neighboring Pakistan, a country of 240 million which has so far welcomed Chinese automakers, to buoy sales – and possibly bypass (US) tariffs. In recent months, several Chinese automakers have either doubled down on their Pakistan projects or made their first foray into the market.
As EVs become an increasingly important geopolitical battleground, former Pakistan finance minister Miftah Ismail says that, at least in the short-term, Pakistan could serve as a sort of pressure release valve for Beijing. But he predicts the West will eventually catch up.
“The West will say that EV components have to be made in certain countries, or that 70% of the value addition has to be done in the country that exports,” he says. “It's a cat and mouse game. The West will find other ways of placing restrictions on the Chinese.
An alliance on the rocks
In October, Chinese battery giant Build Your Dreams (BYD) formally entered the Pakistani market with two electric vehicles, partnering with the country’s largest private electricity producer to facilitate the expansion. The move came after the U.S. and Canada both decided to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicle imports, and the European Commission voted to raise its own tariffs by 35%.
Its expansion represents a boost to the business relationship between China and Pakistan at a time when both seem to be running out of friends – and when their own alliance has grown fraught.
Though China has long considered Pakistan a key part of its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, a series of recent attacks on Chinese nationals working in Pakistan has injected the relationship with tension. After an explosion at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport in October claimed the lives of two Chinese citizens, Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong called the attacks “unacceptable.”
Still, there is a sense that neither side can afford to downgrade their relationship.
Pakistan has fraught relations with all three of its other neighbors, while China has been accused of an increasingly hostile approach towards foreign businesses, driving down foreign direct investment.
“It’s an important and close partnership, albeit one that has stumbled in recent months,” says Michael Kugelman, who directs the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute. “In that regard, this EV plan could be not just an economic win, but also a confidence building measure.”
Economic win for who?
For China, Pakistan could be the key to tapping into the U.S. market, says Usman Qadir, senior research economist at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
“If they are able to assemble their vehicles in Pakistan or a third country, then they can bypass tariffs and get into the market with their lower prices,” he says.
Pakistanis could benefit, too.
BYD and its local partner announced plans to build an assembly plant in Karachi by early 2026. They estimate that as many as half of the vehicles sold in Pakistan by 2030 will be electrified – by which time BYD hopes that its vehicles will make up a quarter of all sales.
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So far, the Chinese EVs launched in Pakistan have largely targeted the luxury market.
But whatever their long-term motive, it is clear that Chinese EV makers are having an impact; Japanese automakers, which have historically dominated the Pakistani market, have begun slashing their prices out of concern that they might lose ground.