Almost 40mn mobile phones are purchased in Pakistan every year

Duty collection on the import of mobile devices doubled to Rs54 billion from Rs22 billion after the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBs) was put in place, Prime Minister Imran Khan was briefed on Friday.

He chaired a meeting regarding the enforcement of a mobile device manufacturing policy.

Prime Minister Khan said industrial growth will help increase the country’s revenue and provide employment opportunities to people. “Our objective is to boost industrial production in the country,” he added.

He directed the authorities concerned to remove all obstacles being faced by foreign investors and industrialists and facilitate them in every possible way.

During the meeting, the premier was given a detailed briefing on the enforcement of the policy. The participants were informed that Pakistan boasts a huge market with respect to the sale of cellphones as approximately 40 million mobile phones are purchased in the country annually.

It was informed that many international firms are evincing interest in mobile phone manufacturing in Pakistan after the enforcement of the DIRBS.

Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Adviser on Commerce and Trade Abdul Razak Dawood, and Adviser on institutional reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain were in attendance.

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman Javed Ghani, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman Maj (retd) Aamir Azeem Bajwa and other relevant government functionaries attended the meeting.