Imran Samad

Moving mountains is a human job

@amirhusain_tx Makes tons of sense

MANUFACTURING IN PAKISTAN: THE CELL PHONE EXAMPLE There's a peculiar intellectual disease that afflicts discourse about Pakistan. No matter what progress is made, someone will argue it doesn't count. The goalposts shift perpetually. I think part of the affliction is that some of this complaining coterie think it is "cool" to always find fault - because if nothing is ever good enough for them, they must be something special? Yeah, right. And the other part of this has to do with the well-studied psychological condition of learned helplessness... but more on that another day. Let's come back to cell phones. Pakistan produced 31.4 million mobile phones in 2024, a 47% year-on-year increase. The country now meets 94% of domestic demand through local manufacturing. In 2016, that number was 1%. This is not a trivial achievement. Yet the immediate response from the purity police: "But what percentage of local value addition?" Let me address this directly, because this question reveals more about the questioner's agenda than about manufacturing economics. Current estimates put Pakistan's local value addition in mobile phone production at ~20% (per Profit Magazine). Critics say this is "just assembly." Let me ask you: what percentage of value addition does the iPhone have in the United States? Apple's "Designed in California" iPhone contains approximately 0% US-manufactured components. The screens come from Korea and Japan. The chips from Taiwan. Assembly in China, increasingly India and Vietnam. By the purity test applied to Pakistan, America doesn't "produce" iPhones. Germany "produces" Mercedes-Benz and BMW vehicles. But their supply chains span continents. Transmissions from Eastern Europe. Electronics from Asia. Software from global teams. Is Germany a "real" manufacturer? The answer, obviously, is yes. Because manufacturing ecosystems don't work the way armchair critics imagine. Here's something the "low value addition" critics never consider: value addition is measured in dollar terms. A Ford autoworker in Michigan now earns $36-40/hour in base wages, rising to over $40/hour by 2028 under the new UAW contract. With overtime and benefits, many approach $80/hour total compensation. A Pakistani mobile phone assembly worker earns a fraction of that. Does this mean the Pakistani worker's labor contributes less to the manufacturing process? Of course not. They perform the same quality control, the same precision assembly, the same testing procedures. If you're measuring "value addition" in dollars, you're measuring wage DIFFERENTIALS between countries, not actual manufacturing contribution. By this logic, Vietnam and Bangladesh aren't "real" manufacturers either. Neither was China in 2005. Neither was Korea in 1970. The entire development trajectory of every successful manufacturing economy (Korea, Taiwan, China, Vietnam) began with "low value addition" assembly. That's how this works. Let me walk you through the manufacturing value chain and let's dive into what mobile phone "value addition" actually looks like, from bottom to top: Level 1: SKD/CKD Assembly a. Packaging, printing materials b. Final assembly and integration c. Quality testing and certification Level 2: Large Components a. Plastic casings b. Batteries c. Chargers d. Cables e. Headphones/earbuds Level 3: Electronics Assembly a. PCB stuffing and SMD placement b. PCB design and layout Level 4: Component Manufacturin a. Non-VLSI component production b. Display modules Level 5: Advanced Semiconductor a. VLSI component manufacturing b. Chip design (fabless) c. Foundry fabrication Pakistan is currently at Levels 1-2, with growing capabilities in Level 3 and emerging work at Level 5. Every country that ever industrialized started at Level 1. Every single one. The industry created 60,000 direct jobs per Profit Magazine. The Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association puts total employment (direct + indirect) at 40,000+ jobs in 2024, but this undercounts distribution, retail, and service networks. Eight dedicated training centers have been established, graduating 5,000+ technical staff annually. Twelve thousand workers have been trained in advanced manufacturing processes. Major brands assembling in Pakistan: Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Realme, Infinix, Tecno, Itel, Nokia, and more than a dozen local brands. The industry reduced Pakistan's mobile phone import bill by $1.2 billion in 2024, a 35% decrease from the previous year, while contributing PKR 15 billion in tax revenue. The government's Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy explicitly outlines a localization roadmap. Current focus areas: Chargers (already localized) Batteries (in progress) Cables and accessories (in progress) Packaging (fully localized) Plastic casings and parts (in progress) Next phases target PCB assembly, display modules, and eventually higher-level component manufacturing. Here's another thing nitpickers miss entirely: the capabilities for higher-value manufacturing exist in Pakistan. They're just deployed in different sectors. For example, Karachi-based firm Ronin (which I've covered in my Made in Pakistan thread series) has established Pakistan's first smart wearables and tech accessories manufacturing and assembly industry. They're producing earbuds, smartwatches, headphones, neckbands, and power banks domestically, including acoustic design and plastics manufacturing. Not importing finished goods. Manufacturing them. The National Institute of Electronics (NIE) operates SMT production lines with component placement capability of 30,000 components per hour, the same surface mount technology used globally for electronics assembly. PCB design and stuffing: Multiple Pakistani firms offer PCB layout, SMD placement, and electronics assembly services to international clients. And at the frontier there is RISC-V chip design. In 2022, undergraduate researchers at MERL (Micro Electronics Research Lab) at UIT Karachi designed and taped out Pakistan's first RISC-V based System-on-Chip. The President of Pakistan inaugurated the chips, "Ghazi" and "Ibtida," fabricated on 130nm SkyWater process design kit through Google's free tapeout program. Since then, MERL students have completed 9 tapeouts. All designed by undergraduate students. Aql Tech Solutions in Islamabad is a RISC-V processor IP company that grew from 5 engineers to 40+ in under two years. They're developing RISC-V-based processors from high-end 64-bit cores to microcontrollers, working with Silicon Valley startups. IEEE Spectrum noted in 2021 that Pakistan, alongside India, has "embraced RISC-V as their national instruction set architecture for homegrown chip development." Let me be clear: Pakistan has active teams doing chip design work. Not chip fabrication, as no one except TSMC, Samsung, increasingly SMIC and Huawei, and Intel can do leading-edge fab. But chip design, which is where much of the intellectual value resides. This is Level 5 capability. It DOES exist in Pakistan. The question is not whether Pakistan CAN do these things. Pakistan demonstrably can. The question is whether the ecosystem matures fast enough to integrate these capabilities into commercial manufacturing. So when someone asks "what percentage of local value addition makes something truly 'produced' locally?" ask them to name a number. Then show them which "manufacturing nations" fail their test. The truth is, the question itself is designed to ensure Pakistan can never win. It's intellectual gerrymandering. Set the standard at whatever Pakistan hasn't achieved yet, discount labor arbitrage, discount or ignore benefits gained, then move it again when they get there. Meanwhile, people that actually understand the business do appreciate what Pakistan has accomplished. It includes at least the following: 1. A near-total transformation of a major consumer goods sector from imports to domestic production in under a decade 2. Tens of thousands of skilled jobs created 3. Billions in foreign exchange saved 4. An industrial ecosystem taking root and growing 5. Human capital developing at scale 6. Electronics export potential emerging Every successful manufacturing nation started exactly where Pakistan is now. The critics can keep moving goalposts. The factories keep running. The workers keep getting paid. The capability keeps building.

@amirhusain_tx @UTAustin Congratulations, it’s a big honour

I am deeply honored to share that I received @UTAustin Presidential Citation Award last night at a magical ceremony on UT’s Forty Acres. /1 news.utexas.edu/2025/02/21/4-l…

@kmehreen9 @moazchohan Sweethearts

Masters of medicine! @moazchohan @imransamad3

@ErikSolheim Only if Indians grow a little more sensible and sober and come out of religious drag, they can play an important international role as a senior civilization.

My dream may come true! i consider myself a very good friend of both China 🇨🇳 and India 🇮🇳, two of the greatest civilization states on earth. It has been a painful to observe the tense relations between the two. These days there seem to be a once in a lifetime chance for a reset. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi is in Delhi to prepare for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China next week. Modi is expected to meet President Xi Jinping. It’s hard to underestimate the potential gains from better relations: * A much strengthened global south. There are many nations in the global south, but no others carry the weight of China or India. The two nations are the core of the BRICS. We need a stronger voice of the global south in global trade, economic and environment issues and peacemaking. * Together India and China can much easier weather the turmoils of Trumps tariff wars. Together the two nations are 37% of humanity. They represent the vast majority of current global economic growth. * Better bilateral relations promise more people to people contact, more trade and more mutual learning. There are many Chinese who wish to see the great sprititual centers and temples in Bharat - most importantly related to Buddhism. China is the world leader in all green sectors - solar and wind, electric cars and batteries. India can’t benefit immensely from Chinese high tech investments, while at the same time follow Prime Minister Modi’s policy of “make it in India”. * Immediate steps we will look for is opening of direct flights between india and China - by Indigo or Air India, by Air China or China Eastern. Easier access to visa will facilitate more tourism and people to people contact. There is time for Indian journalists to go back to China and Chinese to come to india. Of course there are obstacles to be overcome. Many Indians are negative to China while many Chinese are ignorant to India. The weight of history brings remembrance of border wars and skirmishes. There are still border disputes, guided by maps from the time of the Qing dynasty in China and British colonial rule in India. But the disputed areas are of little economic or strategic vcalue. Hardly any Indian or Chinese have ever visited. Border disputes can be put on the backburner to be resolved by future hopefully wiser generations. China and India may never enter into a love marriage. The differences in culture are vast. But India and China can aim for a marriage of convenience - of mutual respect. My dream may now come true!

@TheRealFalcons5 We are humans and Muslims so we shall respect humanity in all its ways.

@zeshmohmand 👍

آذربائجان سے پاکستان کے لیے محبت کا اظہار🔥

@intazarpanjutha PAF has always been a great force, it has a long list of great Heros, men made of steel, think like super computers and act like eagles. Unmatched bravery, superior decency, immaculate professionalism, enviable discipline……. they have all.

@TheRealFalcons5 PAF has always been a great force, it has a long list of great Heros, men made of steel, think like super computers and act like eagles. Unmatched bravery, superior decency, immaculate professionalism, enviable discipline……. they have all.

@TheRealFalcons5 Proud of you 👍

@Parasjahanzaib1 Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

شاباش ارشد۔۔ کوئی پوچھے تو کہنا ارشد ندیم آیا تھا۔ مایوسی کے لمحات میں جشن آزادی کا بہترین تحفہ۔ پاکستان زندہ باد۔۔۔ #JavelinThrow #PakistanZindabad

@Rehan_ulhaq Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

His name is #ArshadNadeem. His throw is liberation, it is hope. He did it, he did it himself, this belongs to him & him alone & we as a country should cherish him. He didn’t just win, he broke the record. The Olympic record belongs to a Pakistani. #Paris2024

@Olympics @NOCPakistan @WorldAthletics Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

#GOLD AND AN #OLYMPICRECORD! 🇵🇰 Arshad Nadeem shines, earning #gold for Pakistan in men's javelin throw. @NOCPakistan | @worldathletics | #Athletics #Paris2024 | #Samsung | #TogetherforTomorrow

@MazherArshad Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

This is one of the greatest days in Pakistan’s history and we are not talking about only sports. Arshad Nadeem has won the first ever individual gold in the Olympics for Pakistan. Zara namm ho tu yeh mitti buhat zarkhez hai saqi.

@PakForeverIA Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

@tequieremos Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

@AzmaBokhariPMLN Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

الحمد للہ اسکو کہتے ہیں حقیقی ہیرو اور چیمپئن اکیلا ہی شیر کافی تھا #Paris2024 #OlimpiadasParis2024 #Olympics

@MazherArshad Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

In over 100 years history of the Olympics, no one did a throw as big as Arshad Nadeem’s 92.97 meters. He didn’t just break the record, he did it by a good 2.4 meters!

@CricCrazyJohns Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

Once, there was no money to buy Javelin. Now, An Olympic Champion. - The story of Arshad Nadeem. 🫡

@Olympics @WorldAthletics Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

#OLYMPICRECORD FOR ARSHAD NADEEM! 🇵🇰 @Worldathletics | #Athletics #Paris2024 | #OMEGA | #OMEGAOfficialTimekeeper

@KhurramHusain Very proud of you Arshad specially the way you have worked so hard with meagre resources and won the Gold medal for Pakistan making us proud of you 👍. Bravo Nadeem Arshad, Well done Pakistan ✅❤️

Arshad Nadeem set a new Olympic record in the Javelin throw!!!! 92.97m!!!!