Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has stated that his government will not reverse any incentives given to the IT sector and may even increase them.
“Prime Minister asked me if there was anything I wanted him to do at the upcoming World Economic Forum,” Miftah Ismail said recently at the Future Fest 2022 in Islamabad, which was attended by hundreds of startups, freelancers, and people from other industries such as banks and venture capital officials.
“I requested him to ask PayPal to come to Pakistan because I have been told by many freelancers that they faced difficulty in getting remuneration from foreign clients.”
“We want to facilitate you and we are not doing it out of sympathy for you but for our selfish reason. The IT sector is the last hope for Pakistan,” he said at the event, which concluded on Sunday.
Ismail believes that the government should not regulate any emerging industry, such as IT, and that they should not be concerned if they earn some money for a few years.
According to Miftah Ismail, Pakistan has been ruled by the elite 1%, which is the cause of the country’s current crisis.
“Half of the cabinet and judiciary hail from just one school. Their children continue to rule. Most of the businesspersons come from one school in Karachi.
Power in Pakistan is centered around one percent of the people. There’s a scarcity of a level playing field. This restricts merited people from getting a chance, who can actually make a difference,” he said.
“Digital is the true democracy where you can make your presence by your efforts,” he added.
The Finance Minister went on to say that Pakistan is in a crisis because property owners paid only Rs. 500 billion in annual taxes while ordinary people paid Rs. 3,500 billion.
“It shows property holders have influence over the system in Pakistan,” he said.
According to Ismail, international commodity prices have risen significantly. He stated that, despite the fact that we consider Pakistan to be an agricultural country, Pakistan used to import $2 billion in oil. It has now risen to $4 billion and is expected to reach $6.5 billion, an unsustainable level.
To read our blog on “Government plans to invite PayPal to Pakistan next week,” click here.
