Rising IT sector, Pakistan stands amongst top freelancing countries, Anusha

Rising IT sector, Pakistan stands amongst top freelancing countries, Anusha state Minister of I.T

IT sector has become the fastest growing industry in Pakistan. The country has witnessed 41% growth in the IT export in the year 2014-15. The government’s gauge for the ranking is primarly based upon the ranking of Pakistan in the global freelance industry.

Pakistan is in Upwork’s top 5 countries which is the world’s largest freelancing network, regarding freelancing revenue, mentioned by State Minister of IT, Mrs. Anusha Rehman Khan.

She was addressing to 4th Pakistan CIO Summit that was held in Karachi. The summit was attended by CIOs and CEOs from ICT sector of Pakistan as well as government officials from Ministry of Information Technology and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB).

She mentioned that the government is offering many incentives to investors in IT sector including zero taxes on exports, 100% repatriation of profits, 100% equity ownership, and the 7-year tax holiday for venture capital funds. However, industry has to reciprocate and collaborate with the government on defining KPIs for the IT sector over the next five years such as an increase in remittances, foreign direct investment and employment generation.

The Minister emphasized the importance of public-private partnership (PPP) and invited the IT industry to provide its inputs in the IT policy of the federal government to ensure the growth of information technology sector. She said that it was an optimal time for local industries to use local software to support our IT industry.

She focused on the concept of gender balance in the information technology sector and mentioned that the ministry has kept a minimum percentage of 30% females in all industry support programs such as internships and training to motivate more women to join the IT workforce. She said that Pakistan’s information technology sector is a rising tide, but IT companies have to improve reporting of remittances to formal state bank channels to reflect the correct size of the IT industry.

The chief guest also visited stalls of different exhibitors at the event and emphasized that industry should play its role to aggregate figures to provide a better picture of Pakistan’s information technology sector to the global world.