Samsung has been invited by the government of Pakistan to turn the country into a regional base for manufacturing, refurbishing and exporting mobile phones, as the commerce ministry looks to push local production beyond the domestic market.
A delegation led by Samsung Pakistan’s country head met Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan at the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday, where the invitation was extended. According to an official statement, the minister told the company that the government will fully support investment aimed at boosting exports, increasing value addition and expanding industrial production.
Rather than limiting Samsung to serving local demand, Kamal pushed the company to export Pakistan-manufactured smartphones to emerging markets, especially in Africa. Pakistan’s expanding manufacturing base, he said, should be used to plug into global supply chains instead of staying confined to the domestic market.
A proposal from Samsung to set up certified refurbishment facilities in the country also won the minister’s backing. A regulated system for refurbishing phones, he said, would strengthen local industry while opening up export opportunities for professionally refurbished devices, on top of creating jobs and building technical expertise.
For its part, Samsung’s delegation used the meeting to update the ministry on how the mobile phone manufacturing sector was progressing, pointing to the company’s own investment in local assembly. But it also raised a red flag: changes to the taxation structure had narrowed the tariff gap between Semi Knocked Down and Completely Built Units, cutting into the competitiveness of phones made locally.
To keep investment and local manufacturing on track, the delegation asked the government to hold the tariff differential at a reasonable level. It also pointed to the commercial import of used mobile phones as a concern, arguing that the measure undercuts domestic manufacturing even though Pakistan already has the production capacity to meet demand.
