ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Secretary Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui chaired a meeting in Islamabad on Monday to review steps being taken for enhancing the growth of Pakistan’s IT industry exports.
Officials of the Ministry of IT & Telecommunications and the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) attended the meeting.
In his briefing, the Managing Director PSEB Osman Nasir said that the Pakistan Software Export Board has formulated an IT Exports Strategy Model in line with the changing technologies and market conditions.
It is based on six pillars with a focus on Demand Generation, Ease of Doing Business, Capital availability, Supply optimization, Cost Factors, and Infrastructure. Special priority is being given to setting up software technology parks in relatively underdeveloped areas to ensure holistic growth of the IT Sector across Pakistan.
The Managing Director PSEB said that discussions have been matured for the establishment of Software Technology Park in Bannu, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, and Hyderabad.
The PSEB website is being revamped to make it more receptive to the industry and the PSEB is also in the process of finalizing another website which is likely to be launched soon and is specifically designed to attract international technology companies towards Pakistan.
On the other end of the spectrum, the PSEB has reduced the registration fee for startups from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,000 with registration fee exempted for one year for companies from underserved/secondary cities.
The PSEB, which is a focal MoITT agency for enhancing IT exports, is in the process of being restructured to make it more receptive to the IT Industry needs and for it to extend maximum possible facilitation to the IT Industry.
In his remarks, the Secretary IT asked the PSEB to expedite the launching of new website for marketing Pakistan’s IT Industry to the world’s largest companies and asked for setting up at least two Software Technology Parks per month.
The Secretary IT said that we need to go the extra mile to fathom industry needs and to extend maximum facilitation to the industry.
Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui directed the PSEB to further enhance interaction with a wide cross-section of the IT Industry for an all-inclusive consultative approach to ensure sustainable growth of Pakistan’s IT industry.
