ISLAMABAD: Despite ongoing economic challenges, Pakistan’s mobile industry has defied the odds by producing an impressive 84.4 million mobile devices between January 2019 and September 2023, as revealed in a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) annual report.

The report highlights that local companies manufactured 25 million smartphones in the last five years, while 33 local and foreign companies established manufacturing plants under the Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations introduced in 2021.

Furthermore, the country has initiated the export of locally manufactured handsets, with 120,000 SEEGO brand mobiles labeled as ”Manufactured in Pakistan” exported to the African market in December 2022.

The Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS), introduced by the PTA, has not only promoted local manufacturing but also been a source of revenue generation for the government, collecting Rs48.8 billion in customs duties from January 15, 2019, to October 25, 2023.

Leveraging this system, PTA has blocked over 758,000 International Mobile Equipment Identities (IMEIs) reported as stolen and identified and blocked 35.5 million non-compliant IMEIs, including 7.3 million duplicate or cloned numbers.

This achievement is significant amidst Pakistan’s economic crisis, marked by a deteriorating local currency, depleting foreign exchange reserves, and soaring inflation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate projection to 2% for Pakistan during the current fiscal year.

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Inflation in Pakistan registered a decline to 28.34% year-on-year in January 2024, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), marking a positive trend despite persistent double-digit inflation rates. While inflation remains a concern, efforts to boost local manufacturing offer a ray of hope amidst economic uncertainties.”