Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, Mian Zahid Hussain, and former provincial minister, said on Friday that IT exports could increase by one billion dollars compared to the last fiscal year.

He said that the volume of IT exports last year was 2.6 billion dollars, which is likely to increase by one billion dollars this year, but it is nothing compared to the neighbouring country, whose exports stand at 320 billion dollars.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that, with the right efforts, our annual IT exports could jump to 25 billion dollars. Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the IT sector has a one-percent share of Pakistan’s GDP and employs more than three hundred thousand people. This important sector has seen some improvement from October 2023; a fifteen per cent increase has been recorded in the first eight months of this year.

The business leader said that in addition to private companies and freelancers, the stability of the rupee and facilities from the central bank has also played an important role in the development of the IT sector.

Mian Zahid Hussain said Pakistan’s IT industry is taking off, but a comprehensive road map is needed. Pakistani companies and freelancers are facing banking problems for which the central bank has taken commendable steps, but there is still much to be done. He observed that fully exploding this important sector’s potential will be difficult without providing an enabling environment.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that Pakistan ranks second in the world in terms of the number of freelancers for whom, if proper education and training are arranged, not only can unemployment be significantly reduced, but also a revolution in the country’s economy can be brought about.