Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the government would provide its full assistance to the IT and Telecom sector through a package to achieve the target of $5 billion in exports.
Presiding over a meeting of the IT task force to formulate a strategy for the development of the sector, the premier said the sector has huge potential that needs to be unpacked.
He stated that the government will offer all the facilitation and policy support to make it a robust sector of the country. In this regard, Sharif asked Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to convene a meeting of the task force on his return from Washington and firm up the policy recommendations.
PM added that plans are in progress to further strengthen the working of IT training and incubation centres, telcos, call centres, software houses, sovereign technology parks (STP), and freelancers for the progress of this promising service sector.
During the meeting, the premier was told that with a workforce of about 40,000 IT professionals, Pakistan has a prosperous IT and Telecom sector. Having an annual IT export of $2.6 billion, it is the fourth-largest freelancers market and the 3rd largest reseller on Amazon worldwide.
Moreover, Shehbaz Sharif was briefed that to exploit its full growth potential, a rigorous perception-building and marketing campaign is required to place Pakistan as an IT outsourcing hub in the world, particularly for all potential IT export destinations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
In addition, an inclusive package to ease Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) regulations for the IT & Telecom sector is also required.
Directing the authorities, the prime minister asked to take all possible measures for the promotion and growth of the IT & Telecom sector in the country.
The meeting was attended by IT Minister Syed Amin ul Haque, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister of State for Finance Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha and other concerned officers.