TECHNOLOGY SECTOR IN PAKISTAN - OPPORTUNITY AWAITS

In the past few years, if any sector has seen explosive growth and innovation, it is the Technology sector. How large is $1 billion? Even by Pakistan’s standards, that’s quite a lot. With the combination of youth and technology Pakistan’s information technology (IT) exports expected to jump to $5 billion in this current financial year. However Pakistan’s technology sector exports were $3.3 Bn in 2016-17 financial year.

Technology Sector in Pakistan continues to grow at a higher pace compared to India. Pakistan’s IT sector is growing by 20% per year as opposed to Indian industry’s growth of only 7-8%. 

Tech Sector & Government’s Initiative: 

Pakistan’s Govt. developed phenomenally generous incentives and facilitation with constant efforts granting technology sector to grow it for which includes,

·        

•      Income tax exemption on IT exports till June 2019,
• ·        100pc foreign ownership,
• ·        100pc repatriation of capital and dividends,
• ·        3-year tax exemption for IT startups,
• ·        Tax holiday for venture capital funds till June 2024.

About 60% of Pakistan’s youth is below 30 years of age, wherein Govt. is aiming to prepare 1 Mn. youth   to streamline excellence in technology, innovation, and professionalism.

Tech Sector from a broader perspective:

A dive into Pakistan's startup ecosystem, which highlights shape & future of Pakistan. According to one survey in Pakistan 202 startups, 22 incubators & accelerators not only in Private but Public sector supported initiatives are also there. Pakistan’s start-up sustainability is also higher compared to the global average.  On contrary not only startups emerge from Lahore or Karachi but from small cities also. Facebook, Amazon and other giants of IT sector are anticipating something huge in the start-up world of Pakistan.

Tech industry is growing at a fast pace across different streams. Enterprise software has grown by 17%, marketing tech 15%, financial services 13%, consumer goods 9%, retail/e-commerce 8%, professional services 8%, internet of things/hardware 7%, health care 4%, media 4% and non-profit 3%. This growth cycle is not only adding value to economy but also creating jobs.

Foreign Investment in Tech Sector:

Having witnessed an unprecedented boom in the recent years, China’s internet finance Fintech company, Webull, is all set to jump in to capitalize in Pakistan. Besides Alibaba’s Ant Financial stepping into Pakistan recently to give new dimension to internet shopping. Webull is to be the best financial data and trading service provider for individual investors around the world. Webull already been providing advanced global financial information service to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) since September 2017. By integrating advanced information technology, data technology and financial technology, the users can enjoy a stable, reliable and an efficient financial data and trading service. Investors can not only manage the stock portfolios in Webull but can also complete stock transaction through , graphical financial data, business analysis, industry contrast and rich tool also.

Investments like this may be a must-have for growth, we can look forward to better traction on the overall growth front. That could be the key take-away from the numbers!