ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said that Pakistan has proposed a plan to build a semiconductors manufacturing zone in collaboration with China to make the country self-sufficient in modern gadgets and open new avenues of development.
In an interview with China Economic Net, he said that during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan, they discussed the shifting of the semiconductors industry to Pakistan as the role of this technology is very important not only for Pakistan but for China as well.
“We want Chinese tech companies to come to Pakistan and make Pakistan a hub of semiconductors manufacturing”, he added.
Fawad had served as a Federal Minister for Science and Technology and during his tenure, he had signed many MOUs and agreements on semiconductors technology and collaborated with China to train Pakistanis in semiconductors skills.
“We would also like to start semiconductor designing in Pakistan. I’m very happy to tell you that Chinese investors are very keen to join hands with Pakistan and technology zone will be converted into semiconductors zone”, he mentioned.
He said that there is a huge area in science and technology where both countries can cooperate, adding that mobile phones are now being assembled in Pakistan but they would like to take a step further and start full-fledged manufacturing of mobile phones in Pakistan.
He said that bilateral cooperation has increased in the area of health-related equipment, which is also very important.
“This is a landmark that we have achieved within a short period and now the health sector is open to collaboration. Pakistan has skilled and cheaper labour, and a huge market. We hope that Chinese tech companies would join hands with Pakistan to join our technology zone and we will be able to come up with bigger cooperation in these sectors”, he mentioned.
