The Prime Minister of
Paksitan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi today chaired a meeting to review fiscal and
non-fiscal incentives for IT sector of the country. Minister of State for IT
& Telecom, Ms. Anusha Rahman Khan, Secretary (IT) Mr. Rizwan Bahshir Khan
and other senior MoIT officials were also present in the meeting. A detailed
Presentation was given by the Minister of State for IT & Telecom on
existing IT/ITeS Exports and domestic IT business potential in terms of
industry revenue. The meeting acknowledged that IT/ITeS industry is currently a
flourishing sector in comparison to other sectors of the economy.
The meeting was
informed about the lack of incentives and challenges faced by the IT/ITeS
industry in comparison to the competing & neighboring economies. Issues
like high taxation on IT/ITeS companies, supply of quality IT Human Resource
and limited domestic opportunities were also discussed in the meeting. In this
regard, a competitive analysis of Pakistan’s IT industry in comparison to other
important IT destinations of the region like Philippines, China, Bangladesh and
India was also shared.
The Minister of State
for IT & Telecom presented number of proposals to boost IT/ITeS exports
including both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as extension of Zero rated
income tax regime on IT/ITeS exports and removal of other local taxes.
The meeting was
informed that Special Economic Zones (SEZs) of IT/ITeS sector are a good
opportunity to boost country’s IT/ITeS exports. PM was informed that IT Export
got doubled during last 4 years. Due to effective policy measures, Pakistan is
being ranked at number 3 in freelancing. Moreover Pakistan is now attracting
businesss in IT sector and recently, as reported by Indian press, the IT
business from India is shifting to Pakistan
The Prime Minister
appreciated the efforts of Ministry of IT & Telecom and directed that this
Ministry, in-consultation with relevant stakeholders, should aggressively work
to devise a framework for the establishment of Tech SEZs across the
country. In the end, a land allocation model with Built-Operate-Transfer
(BOT) concept was also deliberated to fulfill the physical infrastructure needs
of the said industry.
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