Samsung plans to manufacture cellphones in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD :Samsung has been in negotiations with three investors about establishing a mobile manufacturing facility in Pakistan.

According to sources, one of the three parties has a franchise from Korea and has already established car assembly factories in Pakistan as part of the Auto Development Policy (ADP) 2016-21, while the other two are unrelated.

According to them, no deal has been inked yet because Samsung is in the midst of finalising its strategy to grant the smartphone manufacturing licence to one of the businesses after shortlisting many.

In an earnings forecast released on Wednesday, the world’s largest smartphone maker predicted an operating profit of approximately 12.5 trillion won ($11 billion) for April to June, up from 8.15 trillion won a year ago.

“The Korean business plans to start local cellphone assembly in the fourth quarter of this year,” a person familiar with the mobile phone sector told Dawn on Wednesday.
According to market sources, Samsung may choose to sign a deal with one of the Korean businesses operating in Pakistan due to a degree of comfort that it may not find with non-Korean companies.
The Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy (MDMP) was authorised by the Engineering Development Board (EDB), an arm of the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP), in 2020, and 21 firms have been granted the green light to manufacture mobile devices between March and June 2021.

Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Islamabad are among the factories listed by the EDB. Nokia, Oppo, Infinix, Tecno, Itel, Vivo, Alpha, Realme, VGOTEL, DCODE, Calme, Xcell, Spice, TCL, Alcatel, and more well-known brands are among them.
According to sources, the government has drafted the MDMP to attract international companies to invest in Pakistan by establishing a cellphone manufacturing facility. The goal is to manufacture the goods under the “Make in Pakistan” flag and discourage imports.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), cellphone imports increased by 63 percent to $1.860 billion in 11MFY21 from $1.138 billion the previous fiscal year.

According to the Economic Survey 2020-21, the telecom industry garnered approximately $3.9 billion in foreign direct investment from July 2012 to February 2021. (FDI). FDI in telecom was $101.1 million from July to February in FY21. Between July and December of FY21, telecom operators invested $363.9 million.

The cellular mobile industry, which has spent $253.5 million throughout this time, has been the primary driver of this investment. During the first eight months of FY21, total telecom investment reached $465 million. Pakistan has 183.48 million mobile customers as of May 2021.