ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque said on Tuesday that a package of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for IT/ITES and Freelance sectors was approved including tax exemptions, specialized foreign currency accounts and allowing them to retain 100 percent amount of remittances received without any compulsion to convert them into PKR.
Talking to Business Recorder here on Tuesday, the minister said that the approval was made in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday.
Officials of Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, Pakistan Software Export Board, State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue, Special Technology Zone Authority, and Ignite National Technology Fund were also present in the meeting.
The minister said that the package would help in achieving the export target of $ 5 billion by 2023, besides creating jobs opportunities.
In a historic move, number of incentives had been approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan to facilitate IT/ITES Sector and Freelancers and Startups. Tax exemption benefit which was the biggest demand of the sector, and other fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for the industry were proposed by the MoITT.
“I am very grateful to Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tareen for unprecedented and unconditional support to IT/ITES sector and freelancers in the country”.
Syed Aminul Haque also congratulated the IT sector on tax exemption relief by the prime minister.
He further elaborated that aggressive growth targets and timely interventions by the federal government have set all the stakeholders on the right pace to meet the desired business potential and compete in the international market. Long outstanding issue of IT companies regarding easy inflow/outflow of foreign currency, has also been addressed as Specialized Foreign Currency accounts for IT/ITES companies and freelancers will be introduced to meet their operational needs. In a historic move, the prime minister has directed to allow IT/ITES companies and freelancers to retain 100 percent amount of remittances received through proper banking channels, in FCY Accounts without any compulsion to convert them into PKR.
Furthermore, there will be no restriction of outward remittances from FCY account for PSEB registered IT companies and freelancers. The prime minister has also directed the SBP to introduce financing streams for IT/ITES sector and freelancers keeping in view operational architecture and industry needs for these sectors.
Recommendations of Pakistan Technology Startup Fund was also approved by the prime minister as part of this historic package for the creation of a public-private partnership venture capital fund.
Ignite National Technology Fund will create this fund through public-private partnership.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022