$5 billion target set for export remittances through IT in next 3 years

ISLAMABAD: The government has set a target of $5 billion for export remittances through information technology and IT-enabled services during the next three years.

This was revealed in a called on meeting of Dr Ishrat Hussain, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms with Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haq here on Monday.

Talking to Business Recorder, a senior official of the ministry who attended the meeting stated that digitalization, broadband, payment gateways, IT exports and e-governance were discussed during the called-on meeting.

The advisor was informed that the ministry was taking steps to provide broadband services in the country through the IT Universal Service Fund.

The minister further stated that plans for laying fibre optics in remote areas and providing fastest internet were also under way. The Information Telecommunication (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer services and call centre services surged by 23.71 percent to $1.230 billion in the fiscal year 2019-2020 compared to $994.848 million during the same period last year (2018-2019).

After record export remittances through IT exports, the next target was $5 billion during the next three years, said Haq.

Payment gateway and e-office projects would be completed soon, the Federal Minister for IT said.

Covid-19 provided important and basic IT structure for the National Command Operation Center (NCOC) on the situation, said the minister, adding the main role of the human resource system was to collect data from hospitals.

Dr Ishrat Hussain said the important role of the Ministry of IT in the development of the country could not be ignored.

The Ministry of IT deserved congratulations on the significant increase in IT exports, said Dr Ishrat, adding there was a great need to pay attention to human resources.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020