Govt hails Huawei repair centre as step towards tech self-reliance

Mettis Link News reported, citing APP, that the government has welcomed the opening of Huawei Pakistan's Repair Centre GSC in Islamabad, described as the first of its type in the country for telecom hardware. Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja said at the inauguration that the facility would create skilled jobs and reduce foreign exchange outflows. She also credited policy certainty and the backing of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for encouraging international firms to expand in Pakistan.

The centre can currently handle 10,000 pieces and repair roughly 180 equipment types, and the minister hopes both figures will rise. She argued that local repairs would shorten the time spent shipping devices abroad and save foreign currency, and that the facility could later serve the wider region.

Huawei has worked in Pakistan since 1998, including on the Karakoram Digital Highway, and the minister said its academies run in about 230 universities. She described the company as a partner in human resource development and said the government wants closer cooperation with China in technology, skills and digitalisation.