Pakistan could create 30,000 jobs in the IT sector by reducing its software piracy rate by only 10 percent, said Farhan Junejo, License Compliance Manager, Microsoft-Pakistan here Friday at a training programme.
"Pakistan can easily cut its piracy rate from the current 86 percent to 76 percent, to generate 30,000 jobs for the unemployed youth in the Information Technology (IT) sector," he said addressing a week-long "IPR Law Enforcement and Cyber Investigation Training," organised by American Embassy here at a hotel. The law enforcement personnel from FIA, police and judiciary are being trained to help them investigate and prosecute Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) related crimes in the country.
Quoting an International Data Corporation (IDC) report Farhan said, a 10 percent reduction in the global software piracy rate could in fact add 1.5 million jobs, increase economic growth by $400 billion and generate $64 billion in new taxes to help government's fund public programmes like education, health and law enforcement.
He said that in 2006 the IT industry provided almost a trillion dollars revenues to the global economies. The hardware sector contributed $330 billion, the packaged software $180 billion and the services generated $420 billion in revenues.