IT exports hit record at $4.6b

Pakistan's information technology, IT-enabled services (ITeS) and freelancers' exports hit an all-time high of $4.6 billion in fiscal year 2024-25, higher by 26.4% from the previous year, but stakeholders still complained about the lack of government support.

The total exports included $3.8 billion in services' exports and $779 million in earnings from freelancing and remote work, up 90%.

The Ministry of IT and Telecom stressed that the government focused on action across five core areas that contributed to the massive growth. These areas comprised positioning Pakistan globally, investing in talent and infrastructure, protecting and supporting through policy, ensuring stable high-speed internet and digitalisation, especially digitising the economy and cashless initiatives.

IT and Telecom Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said that Pakistan was well on its way to achieve $15 billion in IT exports by 2030. She credited the achievement of $4.6 billion in IT exports to a unified national strategy, led by the government and supported by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and allied institutions.

Speaking to the media, the minister said, "This success is the result of close coordination between the civilian and military leadership, along with contributions from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission, Universal Service Fund (USF), Ignite and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB)."

She highlighted the government's focus on developing human capital, with over 350,000 youth trained through joint programmes with PSEB, Ignite, National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), Higher Education Commission (HEC) and global tech leaders like Google, Huawei and Microsoft.

Shaza Fatima said that the IT ministry had launched 43 new co-working spaces and 23 Special Technology Zones last year, taking the total number of tech parks to 44. These facilities now house over 18,000 professionals engaged in freelancing, remote work and tech startups.

She also announced government-backed incentives to expand those spaces into tier-2 and tier-3 cities through interest-free loans. "We're rapidly emerging as a regional digital and data hub," she stated.

Highlighting the growth in connectivity, the minister said that Pakistan had over 200 million mobile service subscribers, with 150 million active mobile broadband users. Data usage jumped 24% last year and is expected to grow further, signalling deepening digital penetration.

She said that USF connected over 550 villages to the internet in the past one year and aimed to double that number in the current fiscal year. "We're bridging the digital divide in areas the market doesn't serve."

Shaza Fatima announced that the regulatory groundwork for licensing the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite internet providers was nearly complete and licences would be issued in the current year.

Speaking about the government's $25 billion digital vision, the minister elaborated that $15 billion was targeted through IT exports and $10 billion via national digitisation. "We're well on track to achieve this goal," she asserted. One of the key pillars is the Digital Pakistan Act, which paves the way for the Pakistan Digital Authority.

As the minister outlined the achievements, the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) demanded that the government come up with a long-term, predictable tax and compliance framework for the technology and ITeS sector. Association Chairman Sajjad Syed, in a statement, said that innovators were compelled to spend too much time navigating the overlapping regimes and too little time developing export products.