LAHORE: Federal Information Minister of Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin-ul-Haq has said that taxation issues relating to the information technology and telecommunication industry will be taken up by the federal cabinet today (Tuesday).
"The main issues relating to the taxation are: 12.5 percent withholding tax should be abolished; federal exercise duty be reduced, the minimum tax should be reduced to three percent and Rs250 SIM activation charges should be abolished. Apart from the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), in principal all the people in the task force have agreed and these issues will be resolved very soon," he said while addressing an IT industry meet-up session here on Monday.
Pakistan Software Export Board Managing Director Osman Nasir, Naseer Akhtar, a member of Pakistan Software House Association (PASHA)'s CEC and representative of IT companies were present in the session.
While addressing the participants, the Minister said that the Pakistani Information Technology (IT) industry receiving the top priority from the present government and added that they are offering strong support and attractive incentives to this industry.
"Several projects have been launched to facilitate and assist the IT industry to grow. The government is very keen to work closely with all the stakeholders involved in the IT sector and implement the policies that will effectively energize both the export and domestic business," he added.
The Minister further said that the IT ministry is focused to train talented youth on the latest technology and consequently making them a productive part of the national economy and enable them to compete with the western countries.
Talking about the Pakistan Software Export Board, he said it is working on the expansion of software technology parks across Pakistan, especially in secondary cities. He also said that as a part of the Prime Minister's vision of digitising Pakistan, the ministry is working diligently to provide uninterrupted connectivity across the country.
According to him, in the past two years, billions of rupees have been allocated in the budget to bring 3G/4G and broadband connectivity in the under-served and un-served rural areas across the country. A few weeks ago, Rs5.1 billion was given for the expansion of the network in these areas. They have also awarded a contract worth over a billion rupees to expand connectivity in Sindh and Balochistan.
"Another project, the Pakistan Destination Tech is intended to market Pakistan's IT industry in key international markets around the world in a bid to further enhance Pakistan's IT industry exports," he said.
The Minister observed that the COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportunity for Pakistan to excel in the IT sector. "Our IT export had increased during the lockdown from US$945 million (FY 2018-2019) to US$1.23 billion (FY 2019-2020), an increase of 24 percent in one year. The figures for IT export for the first three months (from July to September) of the current fiscal year is very encouraging when compared to the figures of last year for the same period; export jumped from US$264 million to US$379 million, a 44 percent increase.
"To address the grievances of Gilgit-Baltistan, we are upgrading 62 telecom towers from 2G to 3G/4G and adding more new upgraded towers in the region. Moreover, we have decided to install 96 towers on the Karakoram Highway, which will not only benefit the tourists but also adjoining villages," he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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