Daily Times

Federal Secretary Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui has lauded the achievements of Pakistan’s IT sector, noting that it is a matter of great pride that Pakistani IT companies are providing state of the art products and services to the world’s largest companies.

He was chairing a meeting to review steps being taken for enhancing growth of Pakistan’s IT industry exports. Officials of Ministry of IT & Telecommunications and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) attended the meeting.

PSEB Managing Director, Osman Nasir, in his briefing to the chair said that PSEB has been making efforts to provide state of the art office space to the rapidly growing IT sector of Pakistan. He said special priority is being given to setting up software technology parks in relatively underdeveloped areas to ensure holistic growth of IT sector across Pakistan.

In this context, PSEB has recently established a Software Technology Park in Gilgit in collaboration with Special Communication Organization (SCO). Efforts are underway to identify suitable office buildings in Sargodha, Bannu, Swat and other cities for conversion into Software Technology Parks. Several webinars have been held to provide opportunities to Pakistani IT companies to interact with overseas entities to explore collaboration and cooperation possibilities, the MD PSEB said.

Multiple initiatives are at various stages for improving the perception of Pakistan in key international markets as an ideal destination for IT outsourcing/investment. Special focus is being placed on digital projection mediums for marketing Pakistan’s Information Technology sector. Interaction with the IT Industry, Provincial IT Boards, and other public and private sector stakeholders has been enhanced significantly for an all-inclusive consultative approach to ensure sustainable growth of Pakistan’s IT industry and in this regard, industry meetup sessions would be held across the country in the next six months, he said.

PSEB is working on major new initiatives in Marketing, Infrastructure, Capital Availability, Policy and Consulting, HR and Business Development. Efforts are underway to extend maximum facilitation to the startups in all important spheres including access to funding channels.

IT & IT enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising of computer services and call center services have surged to US $379.251 million at a growth rate of 43.55% during first three months (July-September) of FY 2020-21, in comparison to US $264.187 million during first quarter of FY 2019-20. Whereas, IT & IT enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances, including telecommunication, computer and information services have risen to US $444.05 million at a growth rate of 41% during first three months of FY 2020-21, in comparison to US $314.9 million during first quarter of FY 2019-20. The number of PSEB registered IT & ITeS companies as of 31st October, 2020 is 2,631 compared to 2,106 valid registrations as of October, 2019 at a growth rate of 24.93%.

Secretary IT appreciated the efforts of PSEB and said that efforts need to be made to enhance perception of Pakistan’s IT Industry in the global arena and to ensure sustainable growth of Pakistan’s IT industry in the long term.