PM hopes IT exports to reach $25b mark

Reviews progress in development of IT park

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed hope that completion of the Information Technology Park project in Islamabad will help boost the country's exports in the sector and prove to be a significant milestone in achieving the $25 billion IT exports target.

The prime minister said this on Monday while chairing a meeting convened to review the ongoing projects related to IT and digitization as well as steps being taken to increase IT exports.

During the meeting, the PM termed the progress on the IT park project as satisfactory

He further directed relevant authorities to take steps to reduce its completion timeframe after consultation with Korean experts, the PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

Federal and state ministers—Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja—as well as Deputy Chairman Planning Jehanzaib Khan and PM's coordinators—Malik Mukhtar Bharath and Rana Ahsan Afzal—were among those who attended the meeting.

The meeting was told that work on the IT park project was in full swing and the Korean company working on it had now rescheduled its completion date from February 2025 from earlier June 2025. The Capital Development Authority's (CDA) teams are regularly visiting and monitoring the project site.

The meeting was further briefed about digital smart cities and the commencement of its pilot project from Islamabad, which would enable the residents of the city to get easy access to 150 government's services through City Super Application.

Through this mobile application, governmental and administrative services including the CDA, Islamabad Police, health and educational services would be made available. The prime minister said citizens should be encouraged to use mobile applications for availing of the government's services.

The meeting was also apprised of the IT sector performance over the past five months. The IT exports saw a growth of 30% when compared with the figures in the last year.

A total of 300,000 students had been registered to get training in IT skills programmes while four new incubation centers have been set up.

The meeting was told that manufacturing of mobile phones in the country saw a surge by 30% under the incumbent government whereas the number of its users had increased by further 800,000. All the relevant institutions and departments are collectively working on different projects to take Pakistan's IT exports to the $25 billion mark.

The meeting was also briefed about investment in IT projects and the phased increase in IT exports.

With the government's investment of $77 million in the IT sector, a $25 billion increase is expected in the IT exports.

The meeting was informed that approximately $13 billion in foreign exchange reserves were anticipated from government initiatives in IT exports, $10 billion from the country's digital transformation, and $2 billion from the telecom sector.