Islamabad (TDI): Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Friday chaired a high-level meeting of the Prime Minister’s Committee on IT Export Remittances to strategize on increasing IT export remittances vital for economic growth.
The meeting was attended by Minister of State for IT & Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja; Advisor to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad; Chairman FBR; Governor SBP; CEO Pakistan Software Export Board; Secretary and Special Secretary IT & Telecom; Member IT & Telecom; and senior officials from the Finance Division.
The Finance Minister highlighted the IT sector’s critical role as a rapidly growing industry contributing to the national economic growth.
He said that the IT sector has the potential to be a cornerstone of foreign exchange generation through exports remittances.
A collaborative approach, targeted reforms and consistent policies are vital to unleash its full potential and repatriation of foreign earnings, he added.
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The meeting underlined the sector’s opportunities and challenges, focusing on improving the ease of capital movement to increase IT export remittances.
The meeting noted that while IT exports were steadily increasing, a substantial portion of revenue remained unremitted.
Participants stressed on the need for simplified procedures, consistent tax exemptions for freelancers, and addressing problems related to remote workers classification and small IT companies to create a more favorable environment for IT businesses to remit their earnings back into Pakistan.
It was noted that Pakistan is home to 2.32 million freelancers – contributing 15 percent of IT exports – yet only thirty-eight thousand hold bank accounts.
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While five hundred new accounts are being opened weekly, as par SBP data, retaining these account holders and encouraging others to follow the course is of crucial significance.
The Governor SBP briefed the committee on steps that have been taken to address these issues, including streamlining account opening procedures, awareness drives, improving complaint resolution mechanisms and prioritizing the IT sector in banking frameworks.
