Pakistan strengthens IT sector to achieve economic stability: minister

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Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2023-10-27

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) — Pakistan’s Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Umar Saif said the government is actively pursuing various initiatives to support the information technology (IT) and telecom industry, recognizing its pivotal role in ensuring the country’s economic stability.

Addressing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony for a strategic partnership between Pakistan’s leading bank HBL and the Pakistan Software Houses Association on Thursday, Saif said this collaboration would significantly contribute to the growth and development of the IT sector, both nationally and internationally.

Highlighting the recent announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which allows IT companies to retain 50 percent of their revenue in U.S. dollar accounts, he said that the initiative aims to boost export earnings and increase foreign exchange inflow into the country.

He said that with the new facilitation by the SBP, each freelancer could earn up to 30,000 U.S. dollars annually, which would significantly contribute to the national economy by increasing the IT sector’s exports by 3 billion dollars.

The minister said the government is also working on providing easy access to loans and investments for IT startups, with the expectation of attracting foreign direct investments of up to 1 billion dollars within the next six months.

He said that to promote the IT industry and provide opportunities for freelancing, the government would provide interest-free loans to freelancers for establishing e-working centers.

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