A delegation of 21 leading Pakistani information technology (IT) and software development companies has reached Ottawa, Canada, to explore opportunities for enhanced trade in the areas of software/hardware development, web applications, graphics, animation, multimedia and other business process management services.
The visit has been organised by Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), in coordination with Pakistan High Commission in Canada, Canada-Pakistan Business Council, Export Development, Canada; Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Indus Entrepreneur and Royal Bank of Canada.
In a message to Business Recorder, Pakistan High Commission Press Counsellor Maimoona Amjed said that this visit would enable Pakistani IT companies to learn from the experiences of their Canadian counterparts and expand their presence globally.
Canadian companies would also be invited to set up their development centres in Pakistan. She said with an information technology (IT) industry worth more than 2.8 billion dollars, including annual IT exports exceeding 1.4 billion dollars, Pakistan was eyeing to increase the size of its IT sector to over 11 billion dollars by 2011.
Presently, there are 1,161 active information technology companies in Pakistan, 110 of which are also ISO certified. She said Pakistan was emerging as a destination of choice for international IT/ITES companies and outsourcing vendors due to a large pool English-proficient skilled information technology (IT) professionals, top of the line IT infrastructure, affordable rates of connectivity.
"The streamlined government regulatory and the incentives, including tax exemptions, 100 percent foreign equity and earning repatriation have generated immense interest for investment among regional and international investors," she added.
The annual growth of Pakistan's IT exports has averaged 50 percent during the last four years. Pakistani companies have acquired financing from Silicon Valley Venture Capital (VC) funds and now the government is also facilitating venture capital funds in Pakistan.
The Press Counsellor said that during their stay in Canada, the delegation would hold meetings with the leading it companies of Canada. They would also attend briefings about initiatives by the Canadian government to support local IT industry, she added.
The participating companies in the delegation include Netsol Technologies, Palm Chip, Xorlogics, Voxel Communication, Webiz Media, Super Technologies Inc, Softech Systems, Server4Sale, Sapphire Consulting Services, PrisLogix, PMs (Pvt) Ltd, Matora Digionics, Mansha Soft, Invaterra, East-West Systems, EfroTech Services, DataFocal Systems, AKSA-SDS, A2Z Creatorz, 110 Solutions and PIBAS Pakistan.