The federal government has allocated Rs 2 billion to the Pakistan Startup Fund in a bid to bolster venture capital investment across the nation.
According to a report by the state-run news agency APP, an official from the Ministry of Information Technology revealed that the fund aims to provide financial assistance to startups, with each receiving 30% backing. Venture capitalists will contribute the remaining 70% of the capital.
This initiative is expected to make a significant contribution to Pakistan’s economic growth, the official stated.
In an effort to stimulate mobile phone production within the country, the government has introduced a 3% Research and Development (R&D) incentive for the local handset manufacturing industry. This incentive aims to enhance the industry’s global competitiveness in terms of pricing.
Additionally, the government plans to implement a strategy for manufacturing components locally, thus reducing the cost of locally produced phones compared to imported ones through a tariff-differential policy.
Emphasizing the potential of Pakistan’s cellular market, the official highlighted that the country ranks as the seventh-largest market for cellular users globally, with 191 million cellular connections.
However, despite this, the majority of mobile phones are imported. The official stressed the importance of manufacturing them locally to develop an industry capable of exporting “made-in-Pakistan” phones.
