Pakistan’s largest IT festival featuring firms from Saudi Arabia, UAE kicks off today
27 August 2024
Published in: Arab News
Pakistan’s largest IT and telecom festival featuring over 750 local and global companies as well as foreign delegates from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and 15 other countries is scheduled to kick off today, Tuesday, in the southern port city of Karachi.
The ITCN Asia, organized by Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. and the IT ministry, is a three-day event bringing together Pakistan’s entire tech and startup ecosystem. The 25th edition of the annual event will be held in Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi from Aug. 27-29 featuring investors and entrepreneurs from the IT industry.
“The three-day event is aimed to facilitate investors and entrepreneurs from the IT industry to make Pakistan an emerging tech hub in the world,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said in a report on Monday. “The exhibition is expected to attract investments worth over 500 million dollars.”
In a report last week, the state broadcaster said ITCN Asia this year is expected to attract over 70,000 visitors, including 350 foreign delegates from 17 countries. These states include Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, Egypt and United Arab Emirates.
The event takes place amid Pakistan’s desperate attempts to boost exports, particularly in the field of IT and attract foreign investment to cut its reliance on foreign debts to support its $350 billion fragile economy.
In May, State Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima reportedly told a tech event that the government had set a target of increasing IT exports to $25 billion for which collaborative efforts were needed to build a digital future that was inclusive, sustainable and secure.
Pakistan has also established four new special technology zones that can house up to 50,000 professionals and have an annual export potential of $350 million, the country’s Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) said this month.
