Pakistan's IT industry is advancing rapidly    

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) and its departments are steadfastly committed to provide enabling environment for the industry and boosting exports of the country. According to official data , Pakistan’s IT industry has exhibited positive growth trends for the last four years with 100pc growth in export earnings.

During 2016-17, Pakistan’s IT exports were $3.3 billion, which have jumped to $5 billion and are expected to grow to $6 billion next years. Pakistan’s IT industry is growing at a fast pace across different categories.

Enterprise software has grown by 17pc, marketing tech 15pc, financial services 13pc, consumer goods 9pc, retail/e-commerce 8pc, professional services 8pc, internet of things/hardware 7pc, health care 4pc, media 4pc and non-profit 3pc. Facebook, Amazon and other giants of IT sector are anticipating something huge in the start-up world of Pakistan as evidenced by the huge number of sponsors.

Pakistan government has also started promoting start-ups, for example, it has given three-year exemption from taxes to the start-ups and set up national incubation centres in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar ,Karachi and Quetta.

Department working under IT & Telecom ministry, Pakistan Software Export Board has selected 30 IT professionals and 28 IT companies and given certifications in Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) platform. Moreover, 134 IT companies got certifications in ISO 9001, ISO 20001 and ISO 27001 helping them to generate IT exports from developed countries.

Managing director of PSEB Asim Shahryar Husain told the directors in their previous meeting that PSEB has achieved significant milestones in IT promotion over the last four years.

PSEB participated in 11 international trade fairs along with 65 IT companies. He told the boards that Pakistani companies were able to generate more than 2 thousand leads with the help of those events, he added. He said, Trade fairs and exhibitions have promoted Pakistan as a viable destination for outsourcing, Pakistan’s exports increased due to PSEB efforts of organizing participation in International expos along with IT companies.

Ministry official told APP, PSEB in partnership with National ICT R&D Fund (IGNITE) has placed 1700 plus IT graduates as interns in various IT companies and banks and more than 60 percent of interns had a job offer from their respective companies.

Later in another meeting, Minister of State for IT Anusha Rahman, approved “DigiSkills” programme to provide training to 1 million youth to streamline excellence in technology, innovation, and professionalism, focusing on building a workforce for future driven by 4th Industrial revolution.