Caretaker Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Dr Umar Saif has said that the government wants to decrease the import of mobile phones by manufacturing cheap and quality mobile phones in Pakistan.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dr Saif said that the ministry is committed to promoting the IT and telecom sectors of Pakistan. He said that Pakistan is the seventh major mobile phone market in the world and currently 190 million mobile phones are in use in Pakistan.
Dr. Saif said that manufacturing mobile phones locally will not only create job opportunities but also help promote the hi-tech industry in Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention here that local manufacturing plants have manufactured/assembled 6.07 million mobile handsets during the first five months (January-June) of 2023 compared to 0.53 million imported commercially.
The local manufacturing plants manufactured/assembled 1.19 million mobile handsets during June 2023 compared to 0.12 million imported commercially, as per official data.