IT industry advancing at fast pace in country

ISLAMABAD: Accelerated growth of IT, ITEs export increased by 150% during last five years (FY 2013-14 to FY 2017-18) at compound annual growth (CAGR) of 20% as compare to CAGR of 14.7 % during the period of previous government.

An official of ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication told APP on Friday that total IT and ITEs export stood at 3.8 billion dollars including ½ billion earned by free lancers.

He said, Ministry of Information Technology and its departments were steadfastly committed to provide enabling environment for the industry and boosting exports of the country.

According to official data Pakistan’s IT industry has exhibited positive growth trends for the last 5 years with 150% growth in export earnings.

During 2016-17, Pakistan’s IT exports were $3.3 billion, which have jumped to $5 billion and are expected to grow to $6 billion next years.

Pakistan’s IT industry is growing at a fast pace across different categories.

Enterprise software has grown by 17%, marketing tech 15%, financial services 13%, consumer goods 9%, retail/e-commerce 8%, professional services 8%, internet of things/hardware 7%, health care 4%, media 4% and non-profit 3%.

Facebook, Amazon and other giants of IT sector are anticipating something huge in the start-up world of Pakistan as evidenced by the huge number of sponsors.

Pakistan government has also started promoting start-ups, for example, it has given three-year exemption from taxes to the start-ups and set up national incubation centres in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta.

Department working under IT & telecom ministry, Pakistan Software Export Board has selected 30 IT professionals and 28 IT companies and given certifications in Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) platform.

Moreover, 134 IT companies got certifications in ISO 9001, ISO 20001 and ISO 27001 helping them to generate IT exports from developed countries.

Managing director of PSEB told the directors in their previous meeting that PSEB has achieved significant milestones in IT promotion over the last four years.

PSEB participated in 11 international trade fairs along with 65 IT companies. He told the boards that Pakistani companies were able to generate more than 2 thousand leads with the help of those events, he added.

He said, Trade fairs and exhibitions had promoted Pakistan as a viable destination for outsourcing, Pakistan’s exports increased due to PSEB efforts of organizing participation in International expos along with IT companies.

Later in another meeting, Minister of IT Anusha Rehman, approved “DigiSkills” programme to provide training to 1 million youth to streamline excellence in technology, innovation, and professionalism, focusing on building a workforce for future driven by 4th Industrial revolution.