Vivo sets up its first mobile production unit in Pakistan

• Pakistan to export mobile phones in coming months, Razak Dawood says.
• "This is a vindication of the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Policy."
• Dawood had earlier said Pakistan would start mobile phone exports by end of 2022.

Vivo Communication Technology has set up its first mobile production unit in Pakistan, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood said Wednesday.

"I congratulate @vivopakistan Mobile on setting up a production unit in Pakistan, which is its first in Pakistan," the commerce and investment adviser said in a tweet.

"This is a vindication of the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Policy formulated under the 'Make in Pakistan' philosophy," the adviser said, announcing that the country would start exporting phones in the coming month.

Dawood, earlier this month, had predicted that Pakistan would start exporting mobile phones by the year 2022.

Addressing a press conference alongside the prime minister's aide on political communication Shahbaz Gill in Islamabad, Dawood said that Pakistan has begun manufacturing mobile phones and some foreign companies have also applied for getting their models manufactured in Pakistan.

“I want an export culture to be brought to the country,” said Dawood.

Company authorised to manufacture Samsung phones

A day earlier, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced it has authorised Lucky Motor Corporation Limited (LMCL) to manufacture Samsung mobile devices in Pakistan.

An official press release issued by the PTA stated: "In accordance with Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations 2021, PTA has issued MDM authorisation to Lucky Motor Corporation Limited for manufacturing of Samsung brand mobile devices."

Per the statement, the approval has been granted in response to the LMCL’s request for setting up a mobile device manufacturing plant in Karachi.

“The company had applied for authorisation to setup mobile device manufacturing plant in Karachi, Pakistan, where it will manufacture Samsung brand mobile devices,” read the statement.

The PTA has termed the authorisation for manufacturing international brand mobile phones in the country a "landmark achievement" which potentially could bring a revolution in the mobile manufacturing industry of Pakistan.