
KARACHI:
The significance of information technology (IT) in today’s age cannot be overemphasized. It has brought about a revolution in every aspect of life, trade and industry in particular. Today, companies like Facebook, Alibaba Group, Twitter and Microsoft stood on top in terms of earning. In Pakistan though, the hugely important IT sector is not being paid the attention it deserves. Our archrival, India, has established its version of Silicon Valley in Bangalore, and earning huge foreign exchange from the sale of computer software and other modern tech essentials. India’s IT exports stood at $149 billion in the fiscal year 2021. As against this, Pakistan exported a mere $700 million worth of IT goods in the same period.
That our economy has long been in doldrums is no revelation. If our government focuses on the IT sector, it can help strengthen our ever-weakening economy. Unfortunately, the seriousness of the successive governments can be gauged from the fact that we have seldom put an IT expert as incharge of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication. The incumbent government must now realise that we cannot afford to lose focus on a sector that can earn us huge foreign exchange, thereby helping us to cater to our balance of payments crisis that has long been haunting our economy.
Muhammad Zeeshan
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, August 6th, 2022.
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