Thousands of Jobs at Stake as Phone Makers in Pakistan Shut Down Operations

The mobile phone manufacturing industry faced a huge blow as most of the assembly units shut down their work amid a severe shortage of raw materials. Thousands of jobs are at stake as phone makers shut down operations as the government enforced stringent policies toward importing material from foreign countries amid a severe economic crisis.

Thousands of Jobs at Stake as Phone Makers in Pakistan Shut Down Operations

The Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association (PMPMA) informed the IT ministry in a recent letter that the local mobile supply had almost stopped. Also, the markets had started to face mobile phone shortages. Reports in the media suggest that at least 30 mobile phone assembly units run out of supplies putting the future of around 20,000 workers at stake.

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Some of the companies, including foreign players, have paid advance salaries to employees and told them not to come to work till the resumption of operations. Unfortunately, the awful situation comes in the month of Ramadan.

Manufacturers complained about the federal government’s policies for importers. Because of this, manufacturers could not import parts from China, and other countries for over three months. Raw material worth $170 million needs to be imported for smooth operations. Because of the dollar shortage, the government is not allowing the opening of credit letters.

During the eight months from May to December last year, the industry was being allocated a monthly quota of $83m, which was around half of the industry’s total LC demand, manufacturers said. They feared that foreign investors would roll back their investments.

Pakistan has been producing over 2.5m phones per month on average since April last year. It also fulfils around 90pc of the total demand. Because of this, Pakistan only imports high-end smartphones.

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