ISLAMABAD: The Information Telecommunication (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer, and call center services, surged to $763 million at a growth rate of 39 percent during the first five months (July-November) of fiscal year 2020-21 compared to $549 million during the same period of 2019-20, official data revealed.
The government has set a target of $5 billion for export remittances through information technology and IT-enabled Services during the next three years.
The ITeS export remittances comprising computer services and call center services have surged to $168 million at a growth rate of 51 percent in November 2020 compared to $111 million during the same month of 2019.
According to the data, the ITeS export remittances were $151 million in October 2020 which surged to $168 million in November 2020.
The ITeS export remittances witnessed an increase of 23.71 percent to $1.230 billion in the fiscal year 2019-20 compared to $994.848 million, during the same period last year (2018-2019).
Spokesperson of the IT Ministry told Business Recorder that the generous incentives from the government and various projects to enhance capacity and capability of the IT industry have resulted in strong industry growth rates.
The Ministry of IT was taking all possible steps to ensure sustainable growth of Pakistan's IT industry and to ensure close coordination with the IT industry and associated stakeholders.
On the direction of the Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Syed Aminul Haque, the Ministry of IT and Telecom is committed to increasing the IT exports, and making special efforts in this regard, he added.
Incentives to the industry include zero income tax on IT and ITeS exports till June 2025, tax breaks for the PSEB-registered IT start-ups for three years, up to 100 percent foreign ownership of IT and ITeS companies, up to 100 percent repatriation of profits for foreign IT and ITeS investors, tax holiday for venture capital funds till 2024, among other incentives.
The spokesperson further said that more than 6,000 Pakistan-based IT companies were providing IT products and services to the entities in over 100 countries.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
Comments
Comments are closed.