PM Shehbaz directs preparing roadmap for increasing IT exports

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed to prepare a comprehensive roadmap to boost IT exports, Radio Pakistan reported.

Chairing a meeting regarding the IT and telecom sector in Islamabad, he said steps will be taken to exploit the full potential of IT exports worth billions of dollars.

He said the youth will be provided with education and skills in the IT sector and facilities required for start-ups.

He noted the projects that were started for the IT industry in the previous government are yielding positive results.

He said all banking-related problems of startups, freelancers, and IT companies were resolved.

He said the expected volume of IT exports this year is more than $3 billion. Shehbaz, however, emphasised that there is a need to further increase it.

PM Sharif said a comprehensive report should also be prepared and submitted regarding Special Technology Zones.

He said the country’s IT sector has to work hard to bring it at par with the international standards.

The meeting was informed about the progress on the $5 billion IT package given by the Prime Minister in June last year.

The meeting was informed that the exports of the IT sector have increased by 13% in the first seven months of this year as compared to last year.

The meeting was further told that under the Digi-Skills program, about four million male and female students have been given IT training in seventeen batches.

The meeting was also informed that Pakistan is the second largest country in the world in terms of the number of freelancers. Pakistan exports its IT products to one hundred and seventy countries.

The meeting was informed that there was an investment of four hundred million dollars in the startups during the last year.

The Prime Minister directed that all necessary legal and policy measures should be taken to increase investment in the IT sector and enhance its exports.

He said work should be accelerated on the projects related to professional and technical training of the youth to take full advantage of the potential of the IT sector.

In a related development, Pakistani online freelancers will be able to receive PayPal remittances starting this month through a tri-party arrangement without having to create a PayPal wallet, according to a statement made last week by Dr. Umar Saif, the outgoing caretaker Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication.

The State Bank’s new regime will allow freelancers to open bank accounts against this digital wallet, get debit cards, and create dollar accounts so that they freely use their earnings, he added.