Samsung the south Korean multinational conglomerate with the eighth highest global brand value is all set to start mobile phone manufacturing in Pakistan. Secretary Ministry of Industries and Production has told a parliamentary panel that the top global cellular phone producer has already short-listed two companies for local manufacturing after obtaining the authorisation certificate.
This will be a huge step for the domestic production of mobile phones as more than 85 percent of handsets being sold in the country are being imported every year. The panel was informed that 21 new companies had been authorised to start local manufacturing/assembly (vivo, Airlink, Inovi, telecom, OPPO) boosting the local industry of the mobile handsets for domestic market and exports.
Currently the government is providing R&D allowance of three percent to local manufacturers as an incentive for encouraging exports of mobile phones. Moreover the locally assembled / manufactured phones are also exempted from 4 per cent withholding tax on domestic sales. Senator Walid Iqbal termed this initiative as a success story at the part of the Ministry of Industries and Production.
The meeting was attended by Senators Walid Iqbal, Fida Muhammad, Faisal Saleem Rehman, Muhammad Abdul Qadir, Saifuallah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Hidayat Ullah, and Imamuddin Shouqeen, as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Industries and Production and the attached departments.
