Overview
- Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan met Samsung Pakistan on Wednesday and formally invited the company to expand local manufacturing, set up certified refurbishment facilities, and export phones to emerging markets such as Africa.
- Samsung told the ministry that recent tax changes and a narrower tariff gap between Semi Knocked Down (SKD) and Completely Built Unit (CBU) imports have reduced the price edge for assembled phones and asked that a reasonable tariff differential be maintained.
- The Samsung delegation urged limits on commercial imports of used phones and proposed replacing those flows with OEM-run certified refurbishment centres that sell warrantied, quality-checked devices.
- Khan asked industry to submit detailed proposals on certified refurbishment, investment commitments, localisation and export plans to inform a revised Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy and said any tax or import changes would be evidence-based and phased.
- If implemented, the plan could protect local assembly jobs, create new technician roles in refurbishment, and boost exports, but its success will depend on concrete fiscal incentives, verified investment and a regulated refurbishment system being put in place.