Islamabad: The Prime Minister’s Committee on IT Export Remittance, in a meeting on Friday, noted that while Pakistan’s IT exports are increasing steadily, a major portion of the profits remains unremitted as many IT companies fail to repatriate the full amount. of its foreign income.
The meeting, chaired by Finance and Revenue Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, emphasized the need to facilitate capital movement to boost IT export remittances. It was emphasized that increasing the revenue flow of IT exports is vital for the growth of Pakistan’s economy and its thriving digital sector.
The Finance Minister said that the IT sector has huge potential to become the cornerstone of foreign exchange generation. He stressed the need for a collaborative approach, consistent policies and targeted reforms to fully unleash this potential and ensure the repatriation of foreign revenues.
The discussions stressed the importance of simplifying procedures, providing consistent tax breaks for self-employed workers, and addressing issues related to the classification of remote workers and the challenges faced by small IT companies. These measures aim to create a more favorable environment for IT companies to shift their profits to Pakistan.
The committee noted that Pakistan has 2.32 million independent employees, and they contribute about 15% to information technology exports. However, there are currently only 38,000 freelancers maintaining bank accounts in the country. Nearly 500 new bank accounts are being opened weekly, a trend expected to encourage more freelancers to formalize their banking activities, officials from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.
The SBP Governor briefed the Committee on initiatives to address these challenges, including simplified account opening procedures, awareness campaigns, strengthening complaint resolution mechanisms, and prioritizing the IT sector within banking frameworks.
Participants also discussed leveraging Roshan’s digital account to facilitate international money transfers for IT companies and freelancers.
To ensure data-driven policy making, the Committee decided to establish a working group comprising representatives of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), SBP, Ministry of Information Technology, and stakeholders from the IT industry, including P@SHA and Freelancers Association. The group will focus on harmonizing data, addressing key issues, streamlining processes, enhancing transparency, and ensuring continuity of reforms initiated by SBP and other stakeholders.
The meeting was attended by Minister of State for ICT Shatha Fatima Khawaja, Advisor to Finance Minister Khurram Shehzad, Chairman FBR, Governor SBP, CEO Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), Secretary and Special Secretary ICT, and other officials. .
Speaking to Dawn, P@SHA Chairman Sajjad Syed described the allegations against the IT industry as unjustified, pointing out that IT companies have international vendors.
“The real problem is that it is difficult to make payments abroad from Pakistan, which is why IT exporters often keep some funds outside the country,” he explained.
