Make in Pakistan vs Digital Pakistan????What Should Be Our Priority

[Shah Khalid]

Back in january FBR slashed duties on the import of mobile phones

https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan-news/2020/01/importing-mobile-phones-has-just-become-86-cheaper/

This severely jolted the nascent but fast growing mobile phone assembly industry.Apparently this was done at the behest of tania aidrus who is leading the vision for creating digital pakistan.This was bitterly resented by the Engineering Development Board and MoIP Who had bought forward a mobile phone manufacturing policy seeking to attract global brands to come and start assembly/progressive manufacturing in Pakistan

https://fp.brecorder.com/2019/02/20190202444139/

The issue is a much deeper one.The fact is that there is a zero sum game of sorts.In order for IT to flourish there needs to be heavy supply and easy access to all manners of hi tech gadgetry and for this duties need to be reduced or finished.The WTO designed ITA with this very thing in mind

But OTOH if duties are reduced local manufacturing gets hurt.

In my honest opinion there needs to be smart tariff policy so Pakistan can get the best of both worlds.We should put duties on feature phones and low end smartphones that are being locally assembled But allow high end smartphones and other tech gadgets that are not manufactured locally at lower or no duty.Our tariff list should differentiate between Low end and high end smartphones.Because lets face FBR step has only allowed a flood of cheap low end smartphones and Pakistan will not benefit from 3G 4G technologies much with them

Cheap Chinese smartphones have been the norm in Pakistan, especially in the interior areas. While overall mobile usage in the country is encouraging, most of the usage is low budget smartphones which fall short when it comes to delivering excellent user experience.

https://www.techjuice.pk/low-cost-chinese-smartphones-infiltrate-the-pakistani-market/

 

[Samlee]

ITA Doesn't Necessarily Hurt Domestic Industry Rather It Promotes It Because It Can Then Become Part of Global Supply Chains

And The ITA Is A Lot More Than Just Smartphones.It Covers The Entire Range of Tech Devices

 

[jamahir]

I am not Pakistani but I will speak of a project that will be both Made in Pakistan and also Digital Pakistan.

@Baz had posted this thread in January. And he has also created a FB page.

India also has a Make in India program but Make in India is not ambitious enough. Just putting up factories where the goods are of foreign design. It should be Made in India.

 

[TNT]

Our policy should be to promote indigenous development and move to a self sustained economy. Relying more on imports or exports is risky, we should develop our economy in such a way that global situations dont impact us much.

 

[KhanBaba2]

India also has a Make in India program but Make in India is not ambitious enough. Just putting up factories where the goods are of foreign design. It should be Made in India.

You cannot go straight to made in India. Make it India needs to come first. Will take a couple of decades after that for Made in India.

 

[graphican]

The answer is BOTH!

A state has resources to focus on multiple projects simultaneously.

 

[Shah Khalid]

ITA Doesn't Necessarily Hurt Domestic Industry Rather It Promotes It Because It Can Then Become Part of Global Supply Chains

And The ITA Is A Lot More Than Just Smartphones.It Covers The Entire Range of Tech Devices

I have been supporter of ITA and you are right.Infact I put forward some proposals some time back

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/trum...us-pakistan-trade.629243/page-3#post-11687855

The only thing I said that there should be a smart tariff policy that could give us the best of both worlds

Aside from ITA we should look to the future.After a few years smartphones will be an obsolete technology and future will belong to "Intelligent Phones" i.e Smartphones with enhanced AI abilities.We Should Start Working On This From Now.It's All About First Mover Advantage.Also We Should Now Start Focusing on 5G and 6G.This Is Where The World Is Going.Our Thrust Should Be
1.Near Field Communications
2.Artificial Intelligence
3.The Internet of Things
4.Machine To Machine(M2M)

These Are The Next Big Things.Pakistan Should Start Getting First Mover Advantage

 

[jamahir]

You cannot go straight to made in India. Make it India needs to come first. Will take a couple of decades after that for Made in India.

I disagree but let's keep this topic for another thread. Let us leave this thread for Pakistan.

 

[Lincoln]

Back in january FBR slashed duties on the import of mobile phones

https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan-news/2020/01/importing-mobile-phones-has-just-become-86-cheaper/

This severely jolted the nascent but fast growing mobile phone assembly industry.Apparently this was done at the behest of tania aidrus who is leading the vision for creating digital pakistan.This was bitterly resented by the Engineering Development Board and MoIP Who had bought forward a mobile phone manufacturing policy seeking to attract global brands to come and start assembly/progressive manufacturing in Pakistan

https://fp.brecorder.com/2019/02/20190202444139/

The issue is a much deeper one.The fact is that there is a zero sum game of sorts.In order for IT to flourish there needs to be heavy supply and easy access to all manners of hi tech gadgetry and for this duties need to be reduced or finished.The WTO designed ITA with this very thing in mind

But OTOH if duties are reduced local manufacturing gets hurt.

In my honest opinion there needs to be smart tariff policy so Pakistan can get the best of both worlds.We should put duties on feature phones and low end smartphones that are being locally assembled But allow high end smartphones and other tech gadgets that are not manufactured locally at lower or no duty.Our tariff list should differentiate between Low end and high end smartphones.Because lets face FBR step has only allowed a flood of cheap low end smartphones and Pakistan will not benefit from 3G 4G technologies much with them



https://www.techjuice.pk/low-cost-chinese-smartphones-infiltrate-the-pakistani-market/

Was doing research on this. Digitization apparently showed an increase in productivity in between 15% to 55% on processing industries. Clearly it has its benefits.
Make in Pakistan should be implemented, but I think it is important Digitization takes place first. In times of crisis, it is very important. However, I know for a fact that many goods, and clothing materials, and other raw items are exported to various countries, where they are then manufactured into easy secondary goods like Jackets; Pakistan should setup industries which manufacture these, and export for more value.

 

[El Sidd]

How are two different from each other?

 

[Samlee]

I have been supporter of ITA and you are right.Infact I put forward some proposals some time back

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/trum...us-pakistan-trade.629243/page-3#post-11687855

The only thing I said that there should be a smart tariff policy that could give us the best of both worlds

Aside from ITA we should look to the future.After a few years smartphones will be an obsolete technology and future will belong to "Intelligent Phones" i.e Smartphones with enhanced AI abilities.We Should Start Working On This From Now.It's All About First Mover Advantage.Also We Should Now Start Focusing on 5G and 6G.This Is Where The World Is Going.Our Thrust Should Be
1.Near Field Communications
2.Artificial Intelligence
3.The Internet of Things
4.Machine To Machine(M2M)

These Are The Next Big Things.Pakistan Should Start Getting First Mover Advantage

I Read Your Link And Actually Liked The Idea Also I Think That Like A Package for The Construction Sector Similar Package Should Be Introduced For ICT Where No Questions Would Be Asked Of Source of Income

The answer is BOTH!

A state has resources to focus on multiple projects simultaneously.

The Thing Is Not About Resources But Policy If Duties Are Removed Then Local Industry Is Hurt But If We Try To Protect Local Industry and Impose Prohibitive Duties Access To These Technological Items Becomes Limited and The IT Sector As A Whole Stagnates

 

[bananarepublic]

I Read Your Link And Actually Liked The Idea Also I Think That Like A Package for The Construction Sector Similar Package Should Be Introduced For ICT Where No Questions Would Be Asked Of Source of Income




The Thing Is Not About Resources But Policy If Duties Are Removed Then Local Industry Is Hurt But If We Try To Protect Local Industry and Impose Prohibitive Duties Access To These Technological Items Becomes Limited and The IT Sector As A Whole Stagnates

Think of it as this.
You slash import duties and the growth in the manufacturing of said products slows or goes in the negative.
You put tariffs on said products the IT industry has a bit of bump on the road,but the forward movement will not slow down.

What the IT industry did was dig a grave for the new mobile manufacturing(assembly) for a minor increase in their growth.

 

[graphican]

I Read Your Link And Actually Liked The Idea Also I Think That Like A Package for The Construction Sector Similar Package Should Be Introduced For ICT Where No Questions Would Be Asked Of Source of Income

The Thing Is Not About Resources But Policy If Duties Are Removed Then Local Industry Is Hurt But If We Try To Protect Local Industry and Impose Prohibitive Duties Access To These Technological Items Becomes Limited and The IT Sector As A Whole Stagnates

Gain strength within. Whatever helps you gain technology and human-resource strength is the right path. Our guidance is Iqra, not Tijara.

Restrictions have strengthened the countries in defense, (JF-17 being an example) while the availability of cheaper imported tech prevents you to produce the same tech at a lesser quality and at a higher cost. So the message is impose restrictions upon yourself if you have to - and gain strength within.

 

[Shah Khalid]

Think of it as this.
You slash import duties and the growth in the manufacturing of said products slows or goes in the negative.
You put tariffs on said products the IT industry has a bit of bump on the road,but the forward movement will not slow down.

What the IT industry did was dig a grave for the new mobile manufacturing(assembly) for a minor increase in their growth.

True India singned the ITA abolished duties on IT products and their IT BPO industry went leaps but now they lag behind in manufacturing

I think that when we auctioned telecom licenses back in 2004 we should have also started local manufacture/assembly of handsets and telecom equipment as demand was fastest growing at this time.

Similarly local content requirements should have been instituted e.g Banks applying for license should have been compelled to purchase local hardware

 

[Paul2]

I doubt going for mass IT education will pay off. There is an already huge supply accessible to anybody on the Internet. Educated factory workers is a completely different story, and Pakistan has a chance in that.

One good thing, the country is very young, and your secondary education is not bad. People who setup factories look for global manufacturers look for:

1. Enough of labour for year on end
2. Sufficient level of education
3. Cheap enough

Even if an assembly line labourer may earn 10 times less than an IT freelancer, you can train truckloads of them, and they will not pack and go to the West the moment they get enough of money.