ACCA Country Head Sajjeed Aslam has said that the combination of technology and talent available in the country definitely suggests that Pakistan should focus on services sector. "There are over 200 multinational companies working in Pakistan with close to US$80 billion in fixed capital investment, so there is reasonable domestic market, as well as a major opportunity for export of services from Pakistan," said Aslam while talking to Business Recorder here on Wednesday.
According to him, Information Technology (IT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, animation, gaming, finance, accounting, legal services, healthcare services, engineering, call centers, and research and development are among many areas Pakistan can capture. In all sectors, there is enough talent available to set up the 'shared service' centers for it in Pakistan. It costs less than US$20,000 a month to set up a services company employing 40-50 young resources. Countries like Philippines, Poland, and India rode the waves of technology and talent. Pakistan has its own niches and those sectors are picking up faster than others.
While talking about his engagements in Davos during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual General Meeting 2020, he said that it is critical to make the global business community understand the exciting potential Pakistan hold as a country and platforms like WEF serve this purpose very effectively.
"In Davos, ACCA team spent busy days promoting investment opportunities in Pakistan, especially in the 'shared services' and outsourcing sector, pushing for sustainable business practices and power of ethics, focusing on the power of connections in today's world in which Globalization 4.0 is a reality, and sharing our insights into the future-ready talent."
When asked why he felt Pakistan is perfectly positioned to attract foreign investment, he said, "Understanding of opportunity and size of the opportunity drives the confidence for investment decisions. Every investment comes with its risks. But question remains whether returns justify those risks. I strongly believe that Pakistan as an opportunity outweighs the associated perceived risks. Just to share few stats: Pakistan is a 1.1 trillion-dollar economy (versus UK's 3 trillion-dollar economy), with 220 million people with median age of around 22 years, and very young, educated and trainable talent.
"Moreover, Pakistan is connected to 4.4 billion consumers along the route of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We have the fourth fastest growing freelance community, the sixth largest pool of engineers, finance professionals trained on global standards, and globally in-demand IT professionals, and we are among the top five in financial attractiveness on Global Services Location Index, and now tourism is also growing. Pakistan is a trading partner for China, CIS, Russia, Europe, US and Africa. For any business which is expanding its global foot print, Pakistan should be considered as a 'must have' partner."
To a question, he said that ACCA is the profession's super-connector and they are actively playing its role in Pakistan. "ACCA has over 219,000 fully qualified members and 527,000 students in 179 countries, and ACCA has some 23 offices along the Belt and Road route," he added.
According to him, they are developing the business professionals, and to create more opportunities for their people ACCA is connecting businesses and governments around the world. As a global body for professional accountants, ACCA is already working towards connecting BRI countries through accounting infrastructure and their projects, such as 'China Central Asia Accounting Elite Exchange Project' are now considered critical for the success of BRI.
"Using our unrivalled connections across the world, we connect people with fulfilling careers, organizations with the best talent, and economies with the ingredients for growth. We encourage business leaders in Pakistan to get involved with us and join forces with our network to build a prosperous, sustainable future for our country," he added.