ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered the formation of a standing committee for coordination between the government and the IT industry as well as early resolution of the sector’s problems.

While presiding over a review meeting regarding the promotion of the IT sector, he directed that representatives of the IT industry, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Ministry of Finance and Revenue, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, and other related institutions be included in the standing committee.

Shehbaz Sharif asked IT industry to bring its export earnings to Pakistan and promised them of immediate redressal of their problems and directed the SBP, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and other relevant authorities to take measures in this regard.

He further stated that Pakistan has a lot of potential in the field of information technology, which needed to be fully exploited as exports of IT sector significantly less compared to its potential and available talent and capacity. He said that entrepreneurs of the country had played a very important role in the promotion and development of the IT sector and would continue to do so.

The premier directed that practical steps should be taken on a priority basis to increase IT exports from $2.6 billion to $15 billion in the next three years.

The representatives of the IT industry informed the meeting about their operational problems and presented their suggestions regarding the solution to these problems. The representatives of the IT industry assured the premier at the IT industry stands with the government to play its role in the country's economy.

The prime minister directed the Higher Education Commission, universities, and training institutes to work on a priority basis to increase the number of IT professionals from 0.6 million to 1.5 million in the country.

The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecom Aminul Haque, Adviser to Prime Minister Ahad Cheema, Special Assistants to Prime Minister Tariq Bajwa, Jahanzeb Khan, Fahd Hussain, Shaza Fatima, senior government officials, and IT industry representatives.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023