Thousands of jobs at stake as phone makers and assembler in Pakistan due to accecceries Amid of due to LC.
Almost all of the country’s 30 mobile phone assembly units, including three run by foreign brands, have shut down as manufacturers say they have run out of raw material amid to import restrictions, putting the Future of some 20,000 employees at stake.
Most companies have furloughed employees after paying them half of their April salaries in advance. They have been told that they will be called back as soon as production resumes.
He was referring to government policies that have made it difficult for an importer to get a letter of credit (LC) — a document from a bank guaranteeing that a buyer’s payment to a seller will be received on time and for the correct amount. This has stopped the imports of key equipment and components used in mobile phone manufacturing.
The Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association (PMPMA) informed the IT ministry in a recent letter that the local mobile supply had almost stopped and the markets had also started to face mobile phone shortages.
The letter, written by the association’s chairman, Haji Abdul Rehman, highlighted that the situation was equally troubling for consumers, who have to pay significantly higher prices for mobile sets manufactured locally.
Mr Rehman told the reporters that the price of low-cost imported phones and the locally assembled units were getting close, which he said would eventually hurt sales of local sets.
He said companies have almost run out of raw materials, which mostly came from China, South Korea and Vietnam.
Mobile manufacturers have said that the industry requires imported parts and components worth $170 million every month to operate at full capacity, but the government is not allowing the opening of credit letters amid dollar shortage. They said no LC had been opened since the last week of December.
“We fear that banks have been verbally instructed by the SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) not to entertain imports by mobile phone manufacturers across Pakistan,” Mr Rehman said. He said local manufacturers had sent their employees home and 90 per cent of Chinese experts had gone back to their country. “This is a serious blow to Pakistan’s reputation as a mobile manufacturer,” he added.
Workers assemble mobile phone sets at a Tecno Pack Telecom facility in Karachi. The smartphone maker has recently suspended operations.—PMPMA
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