KARACHI: Switched on to the needs of users in the country, China’s Hisense said it will start assembling smartphones in Pakistan from January next year, after successfully manufacturing LED and laser TVs in the country, officials said on Saturday.
“The process of installing a modern assembly line for the smartphones will be completed by the end of December this year at an estimated cost of approximately $3 to $4 million,” M. Tariq Zubairi, CFO of Tri-Angels Electronic, the manufacturer and distributors of Hisense in Pakistan, told Arab News.
With the completion of the assembly line, Tri-Angels Electronics will become the first entity to locally assemble smartphones in the country. “The locally-assembled smartphones will be available in markets across Pakistan from March 2019,” Zubairi said.
At a whopping cost of $848 million during the fiscal year 2017-2018, Pakistan imported 60 percent of its TV sets from China, followed by Korea.
“At present no one is assembling smartphones in Pakistan. Locally-assembled smartphones will benefit the country … consumers will be able to acquire the phones at lower prices and employment opportunities will open up for many others,” Muhammad Rizwan Irfan, President of Karachi Electronic Dealers’ Association, said.
According to several dealers, Pakistan imports approximately 1.4 million television sets every year and, with the introduction of 3G and 4G services, this number is steadily increasing, Irfan said.
Hisense, along with its Pakistani partner, has invested $1.5 million to set up the phone assembly plant and is also in the process of setting up another assembly line for bigger TV sets. Each assembly line has the capacity to produce around 500 units per day, reducing the dependency on imported TV sets by almost 75 percent.
The total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the first two months remained $288 million, down by 40 percent. Pakistan’s power sector was the major recipient of foreign investment with up to $201 million, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan on Friday showed.
Since the inception of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, China has emerged as the single largest foreign investor in Pakistan, with Chinese companies investing $170.6 million during the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year.
Headquartered in Qingdao, Hisense, founded in 1969, has a total workforce of 75,000 and earned an overseas sales revenue of $4.2 billion (CNY 111.1 billion) in 2017.
Hisense has its finger on Pakistan’s pulse
Hisense has its finger on Pakistan’s pulse
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
