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Pakistan's Computer Services Exports Jump 26% Amid COVID19 Lockdown
Pakistan's computer services exports soared 26% in March, 2020 over the same month last year. This growth occurred in spite of the coronavirus lockdown that began on March 23, 2020. The nation's total services exports fell 17% in the same month.
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The ICT services exports bucked the overall down trend in Pakistan's exports. The country exported computer service worth $102.26 million in March, 2020, up 25.77% from $81.31 million in March, 2019. Overall telecommunications, computer and information services increased 19.44% to $134.95 million in March 2020, up from $112.99 million in March 2019. Prior to the current coronavirus lockdown, PBS reported that Pakistan's technology exports increased 26.24% in the first 8 months (July-February) of the current financial year.
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| Double Digit CAGR in Pakistan IT-ITeS Exports in 2010-2018 |
The data released by the PBS showed that Pakistan earned a total amount of $887.47 million during the first eight months (July-February) of the fiscal year 2020, up from $702.99 million during the corresponding period of the fiscal year 2018-19. Computer services exports grew 31.57% to $677.23 million from July 2019 to February 2020 as compared to $514.74 million.
It is generally believed that Pakistan's PBS and central bank underestimate the country's technology exports. Some have argued that the actual IT exports were closer to $5 billion in fiscal 2018. Some of the differences can be attributed to the fact that the State Bank IT exports data does not include various non-IT sectors such as financial services, automobiles, and health care.
Pakistan has a thriving community of freelancers. Its digital gig economy growth is the fastest in Asia and fourth fastest in the world, according to digital payments platform Payoneer.
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United States leads gig economy growth of 78% followed by the United Kingdom 59%, Brazil 48%, Pakistan 47% and Ukraine 36%. Asia growth was led by Pakistan followed by Philippines (35%) , India (29%) and Bangladesh (27%).
The rapid gig economy expansion of 47% in Pakistan was fueled by several factors including the country's very young population 70% of which is under 30 years of age coupled with improvements in science and technical education and expansion of high-speed broadband access. Pakistani freelancers under the age of 35 generated 77% of the revenue in second quarter of 2019.
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Mohsin Muzaffar, head of business development at Payoneer in Pakistan, has said as follows: "Government investment in enhancing digital skills has helped create a skilled freelancer workforce while blanket 4G coverage across Pakistan has given freelancers unprecedented access to
international jobs".
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In Q2/2019, Asia cemented its status as a freelancer hub. Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Philippines made it to the top 10 list, collectively recording 238% increase from Q2/2018.
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As of 2017, Pakistan freelancers ranked fourth in the world and accounted for 8.5% of the global online workforce, according to Online Labor Index compiled by Oxford Internet Institute. India led with 24% share followed by Bangladesh 16%, US 12%, Pakistan 8.5% and Philippines 6.5%.
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The Other 99% of the Pakistan Story
Riaz Haq
Pakistan produces 20,000 IT graduates, engineers annually, says minister
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/549580-pakistan-produces-20-000-it...
LAHORE:Provincial Minister for Industries and Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal Friday said that government was moving towards right direction by adopting more business friendly policies.Addressing Lift Pakistan 2019 conference hosted by a business group here in a hotel, the minister said the government was fully committed to serve and facilitate its business community.He said Pakistan was ranked at number 4 for free lance development in the world and IT exports increased 70 percent during the last three years. Pakistan has more than 2,000 IT companies and call centres, and 300,000 English speaking IT professionals and 20,000 IT graduates and engineers being produced annually.At present, around 52 incubation and acceleration programmes exist in the country from each of which 7-15 startups are graduating every year. In addition to incubators and accelerators, the start-up of echo system has been strengthened by co-working spaces, business process outsourcing services, 11 fellowship programmes growing scale of angel investment and the launch of local chapter of global initiatives, he said.The minister appreciated the organisers for collaborative efforts in organising an excellent platform to bring together the creative young mind professionals, academicians, entrepreneurs and leading business personalities to explore new opportunities in the real potential of growth of our nation.The minister said the government was working aggressively towards creating a comprehensive start of ecosystem so as to channel the real potential of this growing market. He said that in the World Bank doing business report 2020, Pakistan improved by 28 points on the ease of doing business ranking from 136 to 108 out of 190 economies. He said in order to make national economy grow faster, it is utterly important to continue efforts to ensure a conducive business environment.The government has taken measures which will guarantee and ensure that the business community’s investments in Punjab are secured and their returns are assured. The Punjab government has recently launched e-pay, a mobile application for all business to government and public to government payments in order to facilitate the public and improve country’s revenue collection through easy payment solutions, he concluded.Kilns’ closure delayed: Environment Protection Secretary Salman Ijaz has said that brick-kilns will not be closed immediately in case of improving of air quality index. He stressed upon kiln owners to make their kilns environment friendly by converting the same on zigzag technology to get production throughout the year. This was stated by him while presiding over a meeting here Friday.Director General Environment Tanveer Ahmad Warraich, Director Environment Naseem-ur-Rehman, central and provincial presidents of All Pakistan Mines and Mineral Associations Mir Behroz and Khalid Pervaiz, Chairperson Hyderabad Mir Samad, other representatives, owners of kilns and coal agents were present on this occasion.
Sep 4, 2020
Riaz Haq
Pakistan earned $ 286 million by providing different information technology (IT) services in various countries during the first two months of fiscal year 2020-21. This shows growth of 35.58 per cent when compared to $210.940 million earned through provision of services during the corresponding period of last fiscal year 2019-20, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
https://nation.com.pk/26-Oct-2020/pakistan-earns-dollar-286m-from-i...
During the period under review, the computer services grew by 37.27 per cent as it surged from $162.300 million last year to $222.790 million during July-August (2020-21). Among the computer services, the exports of software consultancy services witnessed increase of 16.10 per cent, from $62.468 million to $72.526 million while the export of hardware consultancy services however witnessed decrease of 76.01 per cent, from $0.321 million to $0.077 million.
The export of repair and maintenance services also decline by 86.27 per cent from $0.517 million to $0.071 million whereas the export and imports of computer software services witnessed increase of 13.86 per cent, from $49.854 million to $56.762 million. In addition the exports of other computer services rose by 89.98 per cent from $49.140 million to $93.354 million. Meanwhile, the export of information services during the period under review increased by 65.52 per cent by going up from $ 0.290 million to $ 0.480m.
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Among the information services, the exports of news agency services also increased by 133 per cent, from $0.100 million to $0.233 million whereas the exports of other information services rose by 30 per cent, from $0.190 million to $ 0.247 million. The export of telecommunication services increased by 29.74 per cent as these went up from $48.350 million to $62.730 million, the data revealed.
Among the telecommunication services, the export of call centres services increased by 23.19 per cent during the period as its exports increased from $16.148 million to $19.892 million whereas the export of other telecommunication services also increased by 33.03 per cent, from $32.202 million to $42.838 million during last year, the PBS data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s services trade deficit contracted by 50.41 per cent during the first two months of the current financial year (2019-20) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
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During the period from July-August 2020-21, services exports decreased by 14.26 per cent, whereas imports reduced by 32.81 per cent, according the data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The services worth $758 million exported during the period under review as compared the exports of $884.14 million in same period of last year, whereas imports of services into the country was recorded at $1220.12 million as against the imports of $1815.91 million, the data revealed.
Nov 1, 2020
Riaz Haq
The Information Telecommunication (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer, and call center services, surged to $379.251 million at a growth rate of 43.55 percent during the first quarter (July-Sep) of FY 2020-2021 compared to $264.187 million during the same period of 2019-2020.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40028343
This has been revealed in the latest performance report of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), an organisation functioning under the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication.
It stated that the Ministry of IT was taking all possible steps to ensure sustainable growth of Pakistan's IT industry and to ensure close coordination with the IT industry and associated stakeholders.
The generous incentives from the government and various projects to enhance capacity and capability of the IT industry have resulted in strong industry growth rates.
On the direction of Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque, the Ministry of IT and Telecom is committed to increasing the IT exports, and making special efforts in this regard.
Incentives to the industry include zero income tax on IT and ITeS exports till June 2025, tax breaks for the PSEB-registered IT start-ups for three years, up to 100 percent foreign ownership of IT and ITeS companies, up to 100 percent repatriation of profits for foreign IT and ITeS investors, tax holiday for venture capital funds till 2024, among other incentives.
Spokesperson of the ministry told Business Recorder that more than 6,000 Pakistan-based IT companies were providing IT products and services to the entities in over 100 countries.
Strong incentives are being provided to the IT industry, and there are several projects intended to facilitate and assist the IT industry in its growth trajectory, and to ensure continued upward momentum in local and export earnings.
Pakistan was ranked the 3rd most popular country for freelancing in the world, and Pakistani IT companies are providing products and services to the world's largest companies.
The IT and IT enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer services and call center services have surged to $379.251 million at a growth rate of 43.55 percent during the first three months (July-September) of 2020-2021, in comparison to $264.187 million during the same period during 2019-2020.
The ITeS export remittances surged by 23.71 percent to $1.230 billion in the fiscal year 2019-2020 compared to $994.848 million during the same period last year (2018-2019).
The government has set a target of $5 billion for export remittances through information technology and IT-enabled services during the next three years.
Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque said that the government was taking all possible steps to ensure long-term IT industry growth trajectory and to enhance IT industry exports.
He also lauded the IT sector for its contributions to Pakistan, saying that Pakistan's IT industry had reached an important milestone in its journey, and it had the potential to be the largest foreign exchange earner for Pakistan.
Nov 1, 2020