ISLAMABAD – In another landmark achievement toward sustainable economic growth, Pakistan has successfully exported a consignment of 5,500 smartphones to the United Arab Emirates.
The Pakistani mobile phone manufacturing firm Inovi Telecom Pvt Ltd has exported a batch of more than 5000 units of 4G handsets to the Gulf state and it becomes the first Pakistani firm to export mobile phones.
Earlier this year, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued a mobile manufacturing authorization license to Inovi Telecom and in a short period of four months, the company has started manufacturing and exporting locally-made smartphones.
State telecommunication regulator PTA also felicitated the firm and said that Pakistan would further increase its smartphone export here on. A statement issued by PTA stated, “This is the result of concerted efforts for the development of mobile device manufacturing ecosystem in the country”.
Press Release: PTA Authorization holder Inovi Telecom has started exporting smart phones to other countries. The first consignment of 5500 units of 4G smart phones carrying “Manufactured in Pakistan” tag has been exported to UAE.
— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) August 14, 2021
Inovi Telecom Pvt Ltd was issued authorization for mobile device manufacturing in April and it has managed to fulfill its first export order within four months. Chief Executive Zeeshan MianNoor said that their main target was to penetrate low-end markets of the Middle East including Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.
Prime Minister’s aide on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, who earlier stated that Pakistan could become a mobile set exporting country by January 2022, cheered on the landmark achievement.
Dawood took to Twitter where he shared the development, “It’s a great day for Pakistan’s exports as Inovi Telecom has just exported the first consignment of 5,500 ‘Made in Pakistan’ 4G mobile phones to the Middle East. We hope that this will be the beginning of an era of high value-added exports from Pakistan.”
This also marks the beginning of product diversification from our traditional exports. I urge other mobile manufacturers in Pakistan to emulate this example & aggressively export their products.@mincompk @emergingpk @aliya_hamza #MadeinPakistan #pakistanmovingforward
— Abdul Razak Dawood (@razak_dawood) August 14, 2021
Adviser to premier on Commerce further added that it also marks the beginning of product diversification from our traditional exports. “I urge other mobile manufacturers in Pakistan to emulate this example and aggressively export their products.”
Furthermore, Chief Executive Inovi Zeeshan Mian Noor, while speaking with a publication, revealed that their main target was to step into the low-end markets of the Middle East including Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.
Noor said “we are manufacturing the Chinese brands and there are a large number of ex-pat workers in the Gulf countries,” adding that “hi-end consumers of Gulf countries prefer top world-class mobile brands and we should not even try to get involved in that market.”
“The mass market of Gulf countries was their primary target, while the ordinary citizens of Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan too preferred mobile sets up to $100 each”, he opined.
Meanwhile, IT and Telecom Minister Syed Amin ul Haque also commented on the latest feat. The favorable government policies have helped achieve the milestone of transforming Pakistan from a net mobile phone importer to an exporting country, the MQM leader said while mentioning that “conducive environment was being provided to the local mobile device manufacturing companies and the smuggling of mobile phones has been stopped through Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS)”.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister advisor on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood said that the incumbent government has set the overall exports target at $38.7 to $40 billion for the current fiscal year.
We aimed to amplify Pakistan’s overall exports in the range of $38.7 billion to $40 billion in the financial year 2021-22 after achieving $25 billion in exports in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, in the first month of the current fiscal year, the exports of Pakistan grew at around 17.3 percent to $2.35 billion as compared to last year.
