PR No. 199
WEBINAR:
“PAKISTAN-US IT COOPERATION: UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL” DATED 27TH JULY 2020
Islamabad: July 28, 2020

The Consulate General of Pakistan New York hosted a webinar “Pakistan-US IT Cooperation: Unlocking the Potential” on July 27, 2020, says a press release received here today from New York. Ambassador Dr. Asad M Khan made the welcome address. Other speakers included Mr. Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, Federal Secretary (IT & telecommunications), Mr. Shabahat Ali Shah, CEO National IT Board and Mr. Shahzad Shahid, Chairman Pakistan Software Houses Association. Mr. Najeeb Ghauri, Chairman & CEO Netsol Technologies Inc. and Mr. Kewan Khawaja, Founder & Co-CEO Techlogix led the panel of Pakistani-American IT entrepreneurs. At the onset, Consul General Ayesha Ali underscored the importance of the event in highlighting the IT potential of Pakistan. She said that the purpose of the webinar was to apprise the US IT companies, particularly on the East Coast, of the immense strides made by Pakistan in this sector and to explore opportunities of enhancing Pakistani-US IT cooperation. In his welcoming remarks, Ambassador Dr. Asad Majeed Khan emphasized that IT sector was one of the best performing sectors of Pakistan economy. As a result of Government’s policy, there had been phenomenal growth in IT sector during the last two years. Both the Governments of Pakistan and the US have identified business and investment as key priority and are working together to engage the private sectors. The post COVID-19 situation, with increasing focus on IT technologies, offered new opportunities to Pakistan and US to further enhance their IT cooperation. He said that he intended to hold more such events in this context. Federal Secretary for IT & Telecommunications Mr. Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui gave an overview of the Government’s incentives and explained the regulatory mechanism governing the IT Sector of Pakistan. CEO National IT Board, Mr. Shabahat Ali Shah informed the audience regarding the initiative of International Payments Gateway which once in place would provide an opportunity to small, medium and free lancing entrepreneurs in Pakistan to position their products in international market and get their remittances online through the same gateway. These channelized payments would further augment tax collections on one hand and increase exports on the other hand. Mr. Najeeb Ghauri, Chairman NetSol Technologies, Mr. Kewan Khawaja, CO-CEO Techlogix USA and other IT entrepreneurs shared their experiences of working with IT industry of Pakistan and highlighted the immense scope which existed for further increase in the export of IT enabled services from Pakistan to US market. The discussion was followed by a Q & A session. The event was directly attended by over 200 participants; IT companies and entrepreneurs and watched by a large number through live broadcast on Facebook and Twitter.

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