Pakistan has the capacity to increase its IT exports from the current $2 billion to $10 billion, a study released by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Overseas Investors said.
The report entitled “OICCI Digital Economy Recommendations” highlighted the much-needed shift necessary to capture the possibility of digital transformation within and outside Pakistan through a new mindset.
In order to allow Pakistan to attract global IT platform players and venture capital funds to accelerate innovation, it highlighted the FDI potential by creating an enabling environment for investment in the platform and hi-tech ecosystem.
“By digitizing most, if not all, key segments of the economy, IT exports could increase to $10 billion annually, deliver substantial gross domestic product (GDP) growth, attract billions of dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) and create new jobs in a short period of time,” the report added.
“While IT exports from Pakistan are only worth $1-2 billion, the Philippines, with half the population of Pakistan, exports IT services worth about $30 billion, India more than $190 billion, and many other Asian countries are also well ahead of Pakistan,” OICCI President Haroon Rashid said, highlighting the potential for IT exports.
Six main areas covered by the OICCI digital guidelines are communication, the digital financial system, export development and digital skills, the network of platforms and e-commerce, the innovation and regulatory climate and digital governance and citizen services.
The OICCI stressed the need for sustained and organized efforts to boost the global image of Pakistan as an attractive destination for FDI, in particular for major international technology players, with a highly improved security climate, duly recognized by independent sources, and attractive operating costs in hard currencies, following the massive depreciation of the rupee.
