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LAHORE: As many as 26 top companies have received 2nd IT awards of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Chief Guest of the ceremony President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi distributed the awards.

LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan, Vice President Haris Ateeq and Convener LCCI Standing Committee on IT Awards Mian Khalid Jabbar were the key speakers while LCCI executive committee members, former office-bearers attended the ceremony.

The winners of this prestigious award included Fatima Asad of Abacus Consulting Technology, Assam Ansari from Deline Media Pakistan, Jazib Zaman of Techabout, Omer Mian of Nextbridge, Muhammad Zeshan Altaf of Mentor Graphics Pakistan Development Adnan Hayat Zaidi of Multi Net Pakistan and Shahbaz Siddique of Web Excels received Best LCCI IT Awards. Farrukh Usman of Byonyks, Muhammad Irfan Zafar of ArhamSoft, Umair Majeed of Datics Al Technologies, Muhammad Wasif of The Games Storm Studios, Shehryar Amir Turab Ali of S.T.A.R.S received Best LCCI Software House Awards. Omer Bilal Mumtaz of Ailaaj; Shameelah Ismail of GharPar Technologies, Dr Zafar Malik of Hayat Pk, Mateen Ali Anjum of Phono Engineers, Abdul Wahab Ahmad of ABFA Technologies, Zunnurain Gorej of Dynamic Solutions and Sajjad Ahmad Naseer of ECOMIST received Best LCCI IT Services Awards while Muhammad Muddassir Naeem of Peak Solutions received Best IT Academic Award.

Dr Arif Alvi also gave special awards to LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan, Vice President Haris Ateeq, Convener LCCI Standing Committee on IT Awards Mian Jabbar Khalid, Co-conveners Muhammad Haroon Arora and Syed Mehmood Ghaznavi.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Arif Alvi said that the Information Technology sector is the prime area of focus for the government. He said that the government has reduced the taxes on this sector we would continue all kinds of such support for IT sector.

He said that during the recent visit to China, Prime Minister Imran Khan asked for extending collaboration in the different sectors including IT and other sector on basis of win-win position. He said that the exports of IT sector would take a quantum jump after Chinese investment. He cited the example of Indonesia saying that its IT exports jumped to $ 18 billion in 2018 from $ 3 billion in 2016. The Pakistan has huge cheaper human resources as compared to other countries.

The president said that the technological gap should be filled through strong communication between the decision makers and the IT sector. He said that the government, academia and the people of the IT must work together for the development of this sector because the potential for development in IT is far greater than any other sector.

LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir said that it is a good omen that the government has attained a GDP growth rate of around 5.4 percent in 2020-21 despite steep economic challenges. It is indeed the result of prudent economic policies of the government that our Exports are well poised to surpass the 30 billion dollars mark by end of current financial year for the first time in the history.

He said that the IT sector is the key driver of economic growth by creating further Ease for Businesses through greater automation in these times of Digital Revolution.

He appreciated the government for announcing remarkable incentives for IT sector. He said that the announcement of a zero tax rate for IT companies/freelancers, no restrictions on foreign exchange movement of IT companies and exemption from capital gains tax for IT start-ups would prove to be instrumental in enhancing the export competitiveness of IT sector in Pakistan.

Mian Nauman Kabir said that all those countries who gave key importance to IT sector are enjoying its fruits. According to the World Bank data; Ireland (greater than 150 billion dollars) and India (around 150 billion dollars) are the leading exporters of Information Technology Services in the world.

The LCCI president said that we need to follow a similar path and take all possible measures including development of quality human capital on sustainable basis, setting up new technology zones, bringing maximum foreign direct investment in IT sector, engaging Pakistani diaspora to generate new business opportunities from abroad and creating more ease in doing business in order to support Pakistan’s IT sector that has the potential of surpassing exports of textiles and eventually becoming the largest exporting industry of the country.

“We are fortunate that the IT sector of Pakistan has shown remarkable performance in the recent times as its contribution in GDP has surpassed US 3.5 billion dollars. Furthermore, according to the State Bank statistics, the IT exports increased to US 2.1 billion dollars in 2020-21 as compared to 1.4 billion dollars in 2019-20”, Mian Nauman Kabir added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022

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