Islamabad, 20 August 2024 (TDI): In an effort to meet the $25 billion objective for IT exports, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has voiced optimism that the Information Technology Park project in Islamabad will assist to increase Pakistan’s exports in the industry.
In the course of chairing a meeting on Monday, the prime minister delivered this statement regarding the ongoing IT and digitization projects, as well as the measures being taken to boost IT exports.
The PM described the status of the IT park project as satisfactory during the meeting.
According to a news statement from the PM Office Media Wing, he also gave the go-ahead for the appropriate authorities to expedite the project’s completion after consulting with Korean experts.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman Planning Jehanzaib Khan, PM’s coordinators Malik Mukhtar Bharath and Rana Ahsan Afzal, as well as federal and state ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, and Shaza Fatima Khawaja.
The gathering was informed that the IT park project was under way, and the Korean corporation responsible for its completion had postponed its original completion date of June 2025 to February 2025. Teams from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) frequently visit and keep an eye on the project site.
Additional information was presented to the audience regarding digital smart cities and the start of Islamabad’s pilot project, which would give city dwellers simple access to 150 government services via the City Super Application.
The CDA, the Islamabad Police, as well as health and educational services, will all be accessible through this smartphone application. In order to access government services, the prime minister emphasized that people should be encouraged to use smartphone applications.
A performance report on the IT sector for the previous five months was also given to the meeting. In contrast to the previous year’s numbers, there was a 30% increase in IT exports.
Four new incubation centers have been established, and 300,000 students have registered for IT skills programs.
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Meeting participants were informed that while the number of mobile phone users had increased by 800,000, the country’s manufacturing output had improved by 30% under the current administration. For Pakistan’s IT exports to reach the $25 billion threshold, all pertinent departments and organizations are collaborating on various projects.
IT project investments and the gradual rise in IT exports were also covered in the briefing.
A $25 billion rise in IT exports is anticipated in response to the government’s $77 million investment in the industry.
The gathering was told that the government planned to generate about $13 billion in foreign exchange reserves through IT export projects, $10 billion from the nation’s digital transformation, and $2 billion from the telecom industry.
