LAHORE: Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar inaugurated a state-of-the-art smartphone production facility established by Airlink Technologies in Lahore.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony Quaid-i-Azam Industrial Estate in Kot Lakhpat, the minister said that effective and well-conceived industrial policies of the PTI government were now resulting into industrial revolution and robust economic growth.
He hoped that the smartphone manufacturing sector would prove to be even bigger from automobile industry in next ten years, its export revenues might be equal to country’s textile sector.
He mentioned that when PTI came into government in 2018, around 70 to 80 per cent of smart phones sold in the local markets were smuggled. He said the government studied anti-smuggling strategies of other countries and introduced DIRBS (Mobile Devices Identification, Registration and Blocking System) under which no mobile phone could be activated without clearing relevant duties and taxes.
He said due to effective policies of the government, there is no smuggled phone in the local markets and the government is collecting 60 to 70 billion rupees duty from mobile phones. He added that hese measures also created ample space in the local market for the local manufacturers of smartphones.
Hammad Azhar said the that government had also introduced Mobile Phones Manufacturing Policy 2020 and now five major players of this sector were setting up their manufacturing units in Pakistan. “This is our landmark journey and now we are moving from local market towards export of smart phones,” he said.
He said that Pakistan’s witnessed eight per cent growth in large scale manufacturing sector during July 2020-January 2021 which became possible due to viable industrial policies of the government.
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Airlink Chairman Aslam Hayat Piracha, CEO Muzaffar Hayat Piracha and Engineering Development Board (EDB) Chairman Almas Hyder also spoke on the occasion. Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mian Tariq Misbah and a large number of businessmen and industrialists were also present.
Airlink has been in distribution business for the past 10 years working with top smartphone brands like Samsung, iPhone, Huawei, Xiaomi, Alcatel, TCL, Tecno & iTel. The company has has established the factory with 100 percent owned equity with a production capacity of six million units per annum.
This new venture is a state-of-the-art smartphone production facility and the most advanced mobile phone production facility aimed at meeting all international standards of quality and production. The company has already secured contracts with TECNO, itel and TCL with all regulatory approvals.
