'Missing ecosystem' keeps Pakistan from building robots

Robionix Technologies, which makes AI garment inspection systems, now builds most of its equipment in Pakistan, according to The Express Tribune. Its founder, Awais Yasin, says precision robot components are still unavailable at home, and he sees Chinese partners as a way to close that gap. He proposes research labs attached to industrial projects, joint ventures with set localisation goals, and sustained training exchanges between engineers in China and Pakistan.

Its MagicQC system places a finished garment on a measurement bed, where a camera locates the measurement points and delivers a verdict of pass or fail against the buyer's order. Textiles, Pakistan's largest export sector, brought in $17.88 billion in FY25, roughly 56% of merchandise exports, according to PBS. In a recent installation, Yasin said only three parts were imported: the camera, the touchscreen and its mount, while the measurement bed, lighting, screen, computer and wiring were local.

A robot arm is harder, since it must move to set positions and return with industrial-grade speed and reliability. Yasin said servo motors, precision encoders and drives are not sourced locally at the needed precision and scale, which leaves a gap in the wider ecosystem. He first observed such an ecosystem while doing a robotics PhD at the Beijing Institute of Technology. China set up 295,000 industrial robots in 2024, a 54% share of the global total per the International Federation of Robotics.