Pakistan to become Asia’s next big tech hub: report

• Startup successes and stable government has helped regain investor confidence.
• Overseas Pakistanis too are optimistic that the emerging tech trend is opening opportunities for them.

With a tech savvy youth and a market of over two hundred million, Pakistan is all set to become the next tech hub of Asia, reports German media outlet Deutsche Welle.

As per the report, the country is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, points out McKinsey & Co's latest report on the Pakistani ecosystem, with 720 startups established since 2010, some 67 percent of it are still running and 100 are successfully raising funding says McKinsey & Co's.

The DW report states that this startup success backed with a stable government, which is focused on digitizing Pakistan has helped regain investor confidence.

Back in December, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the “Digital Pakistan Vision", with former Google’s executive Tania Airdus at the helm of the initiative. The ‘program focuses on access and connectivity, digital infrastructure, digital skills, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The report further said that the government reforms to facilitate the startup culture has played a positive role as well. In October, Pakistan emerged as one of the biggest improvers in World Bank's latest Ease of Doing Business Index 2020, jumping up 28 places on the index and clinching the 108th position, as compared to 136th spot last year.

Overseas Pakistanis too are optimistic that the emerging tech trend is opening up filed of opportunities for them in their homeland, the report points out.

"This is the time to give Pakistani people opportunities to use their talent," says Sonya Barlow, a British-Pakistani entrepreneur living in the UK. "We need to utilize technology to share success stories and showcase role models in the tech industry, so that young people — particularly girls in Pakistan and other Southeast Asian countries — see that a career in tech isn't unattainable."