Daily Times

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Chairman of FPCCI’s Management Committee, has expressed his satisfaction and pleasure over the incentives announced for the companies and freelancers in the Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology-enabled Services (ITeS) sectors by Prime Minister Imran Khan on the proposals of Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT). In this regard, he also acknowledged the untiring efforts and incessant policy advocacy through pleading to the power corridors by Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo, immediate Past President of FPCCI, around the year 2021.

FPCCI Chief explained that the aforementioned package will provide the much-needed relief through tax exemptions and waivers; ease of conducting foreign exchange transactions; protecting foreign exchange earnings of IT companies and freelancers; documenting and promoting the IT Services Providers and helping realize the Prime Minister’s vision to take IT exports to $50 billion in future.

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh added that the business community from the platform of FPCCI has always demanded incentives for the freelancers and the companies in the IT industry for their enormous potential to literally multiply the rate of export growth; expand the services industries; create millions of jobs and earn precious foreign exchange to support trade balance, current account and Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER).

FPCCI Chief has also hailed the formation of the Pakistan Technology Startup Fund; which will serve as the venture capital fund for the IT startups and provision of Rs. 1 billion as the seed money. He also expressed his full support for the setting up of Special Technology Zones (STZs) in the federal and provincial capitals as the basic infrastructure is at the heart of creating the enabling environment.

Engr. M. A. Jabbar said that the proposed package will reduce the Sales Tax to 2pc and waive the Income Tax on IT exports till 2030, and empower the freelancers to open and operate Foreign Currency Accounts (FCYs) with ease. He also mentioned that Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) will now have valid, actionable, and marketable data of the freelancers and the companies alike; and that may usher in a new era of rapid modernization and digitalization of the economy the country and its youth have been longing for decades.