The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has set its sights on bringing the chip design and semiconductor industry to Pakistan.
Discussions within the SIFC have centered on the proposal of a government-to-business (G2B) chip designing facility, including the development of a robust semiconductor industry, reported Express Tribune.
The government has to work with foreign investors, particularly from China and the US, by offering tax incentives and other support programs to establish chip designing centers in the country.
The suggested roadmap emphasizes starting from the testing and research phases before progressing to full-fledged semiconductor manufacturing. Setting up a local semiconductor foundry may need a $6-7 billion investment, besides adequately trained human resources.
A local smartphone assembler stressed the necessity of winning the confidence of big guns like Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Unisoc and updating Pakistan’s curriculum to produce the workforce required for this initiative.
In leveraging its strengths, particularly in the realm of mobile phones with their high sales volume, Pakistan can assist local brands in expanding their market share, localizing components, adding value, and protecting intellectual property rights.
The groundwork for developing the chip and semiconductor industry was laid in 2022 with the Pakistan National Semiconductor Plan, which outlined opportunities, challenges, and recommendations. Among the challenges identified was Pakistan’s reputation for business unfriendliness, the lack of trained graduates in chip design, and the absence of incentive plans for chip designing companies.
The Pakistan National Semiconductor Plan recommends improvements in the ease of doing business, establishing advanced training centers, offering world-class incentives to attract international companies, streamlining customs procedures, and reducing costs to make Pakistan a more attractive destination for semiconductor manufacturing.
Great news. A major step towards technological independence. Once a country gets semiconductor technology, it gets almost all major materials industries.
keep dreaming. they have any idea how compkex and sophisticated this niche is? rock sokid stabikity and a positive environment is needed. no wonder only a handful of countries are able to do so. chip manufacturing in pk where internet and calls are blockecd at a whin lol.good luck with these dreamz
Universities need adequately skilled teachers in semiconductor physics, electronics, photonics, VLSI and software based courses to prepare manpower. ChatGPT can do a lot but you need expensive fabrication facilities. We can not compete at 1-3 nm scale transistors but can develop simple chips for consumer electronics and industries. SIFT has taken a right initiative if they continued… we have experts working in leading foreign companies to advise to take start …..
بہت دیر کردی مہرباں آتےآتے. 1995 میں اخبارات اور میگزین میں پڑھتے تھے کہ مستقبل کی تمام تر ترقی مائکرو چپ بلکہ اب تو نینو چپ بھی چھا گئی ہے لیکن ہمارے فیصلہ ساز ادارے سوئے رہے
Yar Ghup chornay ki b koi hud hoti hai
They woke up a few decade late and started daydreaming of multibillions. If the vision of SIFC is restricted to the export rotten onions and diseased bananas to earn a few dollars, one can imagine the fate of chips here.
Government-to-Business G2B, please dont. Privitoze it