Islamabad: The Prime Minister said that Pakistan has no shortage of talented manpower and resources, and through better utilization of resources and education and training of the manpower, Pakistan’s IT exports can exceed $25 billion.
A review meeting on IT sector reforms was held in Islamabad today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. A detailed action plan was presented to the Prime Minister to take the country’s information technology exports to $25 billion.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif gave the Ministry of Information Technology a target of taking the country’s IT exports to $25 billion in the next five years. The Ministry of Information Technology presented the Prime Minister with an action plan to reform various parts of the sector and address the problems.
The Prime Minister said that all institutions should cooperate together to address the challenges hindering the reforms presented to increase IT exports. I will personally supervise the implementation of IT sector reforms.
He directed that the proposed action plan for IT sector reforms is excellent, now ensure its implementation.
The Prime Minister said that the Higher Education Commission should prepare an action plan to provide international standard education, training and skills to Pakistani youth. There is a demand for Pakistani IT experts in the Gulf countries, and suggestions in this regard should also be implemented soon.
The Prime Minister directed that clear targets be set for increasing IT exports and a time frame be set for each step, while a committee should be established to implement IT sector reforms and promote cooperation with various institutions.
Meeting proceedings
Earlier, the meeting was apprised of the potential of each sector to increase IT sector exports to $25 billion. As a result of the Prime Minister’s vision of making the IT sector a priority, IT sector exports increased by 34 percent in the last four months.
The meeting was further informed that Pakistan improved its global ranking by 14 places in terms of e-governance, 2,500 new IT companies were registered, while Pakistan’s IT ranking improved from 79 to 40.
The meeting was informed that in the next 5 years, a target has been set to achieve $15 billion in IT exports, $1 billion in telecom exports, and $10 billion in digitization. The meeting was also informed about the current status of IT sector exports.
The meeting was also briefed about the proposed labor management system, under which employment will be ensured by increasing the capacity of the workforce with the cooperation of educational institutions after using demand data from industries. The meeting was also informed about the proposed project to facilitate remittances to the youth working in the IT sector, especially freelancers.
The Prime Minister termed this initiative regarding international payment gateways as a good one and issued instructions for its early implementation. The meeting was also briefed on reforms in the telecom sector.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the action plan to increase exports in the IT sector and appreciated the efforts of the Minister of State for Information Technology and his team. The Prime Minister also issued instructions for its implementation within a specified period.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Minister of State for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja and relevant senior officials.
