Pakistan Witnessed 41% Increase in IT Exports Last Year; PSEB Reports

During the last fiscal year Pakistan witnessed 41% increase in Information Technology (IT) exports with yearly revenue of the industry exceeding US$ 2.5 billion a year. With exponential growth in IT exports over the years, it is projected to surpass US$ 5 billion before 2020.

According to Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), Pakistan is in up-work’s ­ world’s largest portal for freelancing IT work ­top 5 countries in terms of freelance earnings.

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Pakistan Witnessed 41% Increase in IT Exports Last Year; PSEB Reports

Ministry of Information Technology (MolT) established PSEB to aid local and foreign investors and customers and it is now facilitating over 2,000 IT companies including software houses and call centers. The Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has also confirmed official recognition to more than 150 IT companies in IT quality standards such as ISO-9001, ISO-27001 and Carnegie Mellon’s CMMI.

Counting the enticements, PSEB reported that investment in Pakistan ensures up to 70% savings on annual operational expenses as compared to costs in North America and Europe. There exists one of the most attractive incentive programmes for IT investment with zero taxes on IT exports currently. The other benefits are 100% return of profits certified to foreign IT investors, up to 100% equity endorsed for foreign financiers and seven-year tax holiday for venture capital funds. Pakistan also has 15 IT parks with IT-facilitated infrastructure while three new state-of-the-art IT parks are to be established.

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Pakistani IT companies have several affluence 500 companies in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia as their customers while Pakistani IT companies have won 25 gold and silver awards at different international events such as Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA), according to PSEB.