ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s IT sector continued to accelerate with each passing month, as it made another historical record of $310 million in April 2024—an all-time high monthly inflow.
Previously, the export receipts for the IT sector stood at $306 million in March 2024 and $303 million in December 2023.
Experts attributed the growth to consistent policy measures, including the Ministry of IT and Telecommunications (MoIT) and the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) facilitating and incentivizing IT exporters.
According to the data revealed by the State Bank of Pakistan, exports of IT and IT-enabled services surged to record highs throughout the financial year, crossing a mark of $2.593 billion during the period of July to April 2023–24, as compared to previous export inflows of $2.135 million. This shows an increase of $458 million, or 21% year-on-year.
Renowned IT exporter Dr Noman Said commented that the growth of IT exports depicted the confidence of IT exporters in government policies favourable for their sector’s development and expansion. The recent collective efforts of the IT sector made by the Ministry of IT, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), and IT industry association, mainly in the Gulf region, translated into increasing exports of the IT sector.
Pakistan’s IT companies are maintaining growth in traditional and non-traditional markets, including the US, EU, and Gulf countries, which may result in the consistent growth of IT exports in the coming months, he said and added. IT companies should trust government policies to work on high-margin projects, even through joint ventures with local partners or foreign companies.
Tufail Ahmed Khan, president and CEO of the Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA), said freelancers’ and remote workers’ contributions are growing to overall IT and IT-enabled services exports.
He mentioned that the role of commercial banks and banking regulatory bodies in facilitating freelancers is vital to empowering them to bring IT remittances into the country through proper banking channels.
Various training and scholarship programs offered by various institutions, including tech giant Google, will enable thousands of people in Pakistan to become valuable members of the IT sector and economy. Not only will IT companies offer them jobs, but skilled IT workers could earn millions of dollars in Pakistan by working on various projects on different freelancing platforms.
With two months left in the financial year, the exports of IT and IT-enabled services are likely to exceed $3 billion in the current financial year 2023–24.
