Pakistan’s IT exports to cross $1.2bln this fiscal year

TOKYO: Pakistan’s exports of information technology and enabled-services are expected to reach $1.2 billion by the end of the current fiscal year compared to $831.4 million a year earlier, a minister said.

Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Aminul Haque told this scribe over phone that number of IT companies in Pakistan increased 592 to 2,354 by the end of June compared to 1,762 as of June 2018.

Export remittances from IT and IT-enabled services comprising computer and call centre services surged to $379.3 million at a growth rate of 43.6 percent during first three months (July-September) of FY2020-21, in comparison to $264.2 million during the first quarter of FY2019-20.

Export remittances from telecommunication, computer and information services have risen to $444.1 million at a growth rate of 41 percent during the first three months of FY2020-21, in comparison to $314.9 million during the first quarter of FY2019-20.

Haque said 12 new projects were awarded to different telecom operators to establish telecommunication infrastructure that provides coverage of voice and broadband internet services to unserved mauzas in Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Paktunkhwa.

These projects target the provision of high-speed mobile broadband and voice telephony services in 5,723 unserved and underserved mauzas, benefiting a population of approximately 13.2 million in FY 2019-20.

Pakistan has become the 5th most financially attractive location in the world for offshore services, according to A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index. Several international companies including Global enterprises like Bentley, Ciklum, IBM, Mentor Graphics, S&P Global, Symantec, Teradata, and VMware have established global consulting services centers, research and development facilities, and BPO support services centres in Pakistan.

In addition, freelancers and independent consultants are making their own mark in IT enabled services as Pakistan is ranked as the 4th most popular country for freelancing as per initial data for 2019 of Online Labor Index by Oxford Internet Institute.

The IT minister said the Ministry has initiated development projects to spur growth of ICT sector and improve bilateral relations with countries around the globe to expedite the realization of potential opportunities.

“Our efforts are paying off as the IT industry is growing in terms of the number of companies, revenue, exports, and workforce every year,” he said.

“IT exports have increased by many times over the last decade thereby demonstrating clear confidence in the ability of the local companies to deliver IT solutions and services which meet the expectations of foreign clients.”