Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar asked for on Wednesday that a comprehensive strategy to increase the country’s IT exports be presented.
He stated, while chairing a meeting on the information technology and telecom sectors in Islamabad, that every facility will be provided for the promotion of the IT sector, and that all targets for the promotion of investment in the IT sector will be met through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) platform.
The premier stated that all government services will be digitalized, and a solution to the problem of freelancers will be offered.
He also stated that world-class education and information technology skills will be provided.
Caretaker PM Vision To Increase IT Exports
He stated that the government will prioritize efforts to promote domestically made high-tech goods, particularly smartphones.
The meeting was informed that digitizing all government services will help increase revenue collection, reduce tax evasion, and realize Pakistan’s goal of total economic documentation.
The meeting was informed that the government is taking steps to enable the availability of soft loans and investments for start-ups, which is expected to produce one billion dollars in Foreign Direct Investment over the next six months.
During the conference, a strategy for providing high-speed internet, 5G services, and telecom sector changes were also presented.
Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunications Dr. Umar Saif Tweet
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) following the meeting, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunications Dr. Umar Saif stated that the prime minister accepted and welcomed the Ministry of IT’s initiative.
The Prime Minister has approved and appreciated our plan for the Ministry of IT and Telecom:
1. Enhance IT exports by institutionalising dollar retention accounts, IT corporate debit cards to enable easy flow of money in and out of retention accounts, streamlining tax issues and… pic.twitter.com/QAQPT4ObZ8
— Umar Saif (@umarsaif) September 6, 2023
In his post, the minister also highlighted key points of the plan, such as increasing IT exports by institutionalizing dollar retention accounts, IT corporate debit cards to allow easy flow of money into and out of retention accounts, streamlining tax issues, and training 200,000 IT professionals to increase IT exports by $5 billion.
To read our blog on “IT exports of Pakistan increase by 7% on YoY basis in July,” click here.
