Caretaker Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Dr Umar Saif unveiled the roadmap to achieve the target of $10 billion in annual exports through four major dimensions on Thursday. Speaking as a chief guest at the 23rd ITCN Asia 2023 “Declaring Pakistan the Regional ICT Hub,” he stated the annual IT export could be increased to $3.5 billion from the present level of $2.6 billion by providing confidence to IT companies to retain their exports income in special accounts of Pakistan banks rather than offshore offices in different countries.
He remarked that special forex accounts and online banking platforms are necessary for IT companies to invest in the core infrastructure for purchasing essential software services and hardware equipment. Through a partnership with the private sector, the ministry will train 100,000 software developers to enhance the exports by $2 billion annually, translating the export values to $5.5 billion.
In this regard, various training programs and boot camps will be organised to build the capacity of our university graduates by in-demand skills of the IT industry, he said and added. The training and development will also employ thousands of graduates in the country who will support themselves and their families. Presently, our higher educational institutes produce 35,000 to 40,000 graduates every year in different disciplines, and merely 10 percent are employable.
Dr Umar Saif further said that Pakistanis are the world’s second-largest online workforce community; however, their revenues are reflected in remittances of overseas Pakistanis because of the unavailability of the international payment gateway, Paypal. Facilitating freelancers through a global payment gateway and easy account facility will also enhance exports by another $2 billion.
The freelancers are being empowered with training in different skills. Still, an ecosystem and workstations are equally vital for them to enhance their contribution to exports of IT and IT-enabled services, he stated. Therefore, in collaboration with the private sector, the government will create space for freelancers on 5,000 points in different cities.
Besides, the tax rate on the income of freelancers is extremely high, which should be equalised to the tax rate of the IT industry at 0.25%. Hence, the rising trend of the Gig economy could also be facilitated in Pakistan.
Dr Umar Saif further stated that introducing a de-risking mechanism for venture capital could bring back the investment trend in startup culture. The ministry plans to launch a fund of funds with 30% government equity. Regarding the telecom sector, the Caretaker Federal Minister vowed the launch of 5G technology will be made possible through the auction of 300 MHz in consultation with all stakeholders. Also, the spectrum’s capacity will double the present level to meet the customers’ demand.
Dr Umar Saif added a special financing facility should be proposed for mobile phone manufacturers to enhance the production of mobile phone handsets with enhanced qualities.
Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan Saleem Ullah, CEO NITB Babar Bhatti, CEO Tech Destination Pakistan Ali Raza, General Secretary PASHA Nadeem Malik, MD Ignite Asim Shahryar, CEO and MD Systems System Limited, Country Director Unifonic Khurram Rahat, Chairman Sparx Asif Khan, CEO Abacus Consulting Fatima Asad-Said and other dignitaries also spoke at the inaugural ceremony.
The 23rd edition of ITCN Asia, the flagship event of the IT and telecom sector, commenced on August 31 in Karachi at the Expo Center.
Tech Destination Pakistan was the title partner of this event for the first time. Google, P@SHA, and UNIFONIC were also leading partners. Over 450 organisations are participating in the event, including 100 foreign delegates from eight countries: China, Singapore, Azerbaijan, UAE, KSA, USA, etc.
The event hosts more than 400 booths showcasing global brands. Companies such as Special Communications Organization, InoTech Solutions, Systems Limited, Abacus Consulting, Transworld, UNIFONIC, S.I Global Solutions, etc. are participating in the event.
The event is supported by the Ministry of IT & Telecom, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) and the Pakistan IT Industry Association (P@SHA). Besides the exhibition, various conferences are taking place on Cybersecurity, E-commerce, Fintech, Agile, Digital Education, Gaming, etc.