ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's Ministry of Science and Technology will establish a group of electronics design and quality assurance laboratories around the country to support local supply chains, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

The so-called Electronics Facilitation Centres will be set up in the federal and the provincial capitals to support local electronics hubs through economies of scale, parts supply, sub-assemblies and kits.

Currently at least 97% of PCBs and related assemblies are imported to the country.

The centers will offer printed circuit board design and prototyping services, and SMT assembly machines, with an emphasis on producing internationally competitive products in terms of price and quality.

A Pakistani official acknowledged the country has not been able to establish a viable electronics industrial base, but it wants to gain greater access to the $1.5 trillion worldwide electronics market.

Pakistan is targeting industrial, defense and consumer electronics, he added.