Comment by Riaz Haq on December 23, 2020 at 12:16pm

#Pakistan to launch #drone policy to boost local #manufacturing industry. Pakistan introduced locally developed drones, designed and manufactured by ABM SATUMA (Private) Ltd, initially to fight #locust attack and later to enhance #agricultural productivity https://gn24.ae/afa1c338ce17000

Pakistan government has approved the country’s first drone policy in an effort to boost local drones manufacturing industry and to usher in a new era of automation.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday gave the green light to set up a committee to formulate a legislative and regulatory body that would expand a safer and legalised use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in diverse sectors. Drone technology can greatly benefit the country’s agriculture and urban planning sectors and maintain law and order situation, Khan said after a meeting with Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry in Islamabad.

Develop local drone manufacturing industry
The drone policy is seen as the first step towards building the drone industry in the country where the import of drones is practically banned due to security concerns. Talking to Gulf News, Minister Fawad Chaudhry explained the government has decided to lift the ban “to develop and boost the local drone manufacturing industry” in the next five years. The regulation would help Pakistan tap into the commercial drone market, which is expected to touch US$43 billion by 2025 with an annual 20 per cent growth rate, he said. “To develop its drone industry, Pakistan looks forward to joint ventures with China and Turkey,” the minister said.

Focus on agriculture and police drones
The planned legislation is designed to effectively “use drones in precision agriculture and by law enforcement for public safety.” He said that his ministry is in contact with police departments to create special drone units to help curb street crimes in cities such as Karachi. As police departments around the world are increasingly turning to drones to fight crimes, Pakistan’s police can also make full use of high-tech surveillance tools, he said.

WHICH SECTORS CAN BENEFIT THE MOST?
Recently, drone technology is increasingly being used to improve emergency services and public safety, due to its low cost, easy deployment, and ease of maintenance. Experts have suggested Pakistan government expand the use of drones in these sectors:
• Agriculture
• Health and medicine
• Rescue missions such as natural disasters and fire-fighting
• Forestry
• Construction and infrastructure inspection
• Survey and exploration
• Utilities
• Mining

This year, Islamabad Police started using drones to track suspects especially those involved in street crimes, expand the scope of police surveillance and ensure public safety. In July 2020, Pakistan introduced locally developed drones, designed and manufactured by ABM SATUMA (Private) Ltd, initially to fight the locust attack and later to enhance agricultural productivity.

Regulation and incentives to private sector urged
Local drone manufacturers suggest that besides regulating the use of drones, the federal government must encourage the private sector by offering direct support and tax incentives to develop the local industry. “Pakistan is missing out on a huge potential to develop our drone industry due to red tape and custom duties” says Imran Wazeer, the COO of ABM SATUMA, the private company that has been developing drones in Pakistan for over two decades and pushed the government for drone legislation.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 24, 2020 at 7:51am

#Pakistan has emerged among the top 10 countries in the world showing the fastest growth in open-source #software development around the globe, revealed software development platform Github in its latest Octoverse 2020 report. #technology #Infotech https://www.techjuice.pk/pakistan-among-top-10-countries-with-highe...

It appears that the Pakistani developer community has been pretty active this year! According to a new report released by version control platform GitHub, Pakistan ranks among the top 10 countries around the world with the highest growth in open source project contributions since last year.

The past few days have been massive for Pakistani developers. For one, the country managed to bag the most top 50 finishes in one of the most prestigious speed coding competitions in the world. For another, Japan has made it clear that it will be sending more than 500 IT firms to Pakistan to recruit local talent. And now, GitHub’s “The 2020 State of the Octoverse ” report has revealed that the nation’s developers have been among the most active contributors to open-source projects on the platform.

Coming in at #6 in the report’s “Top countries and regions percentage growth in contributions since last year” rankings, Pakistan boasts an impressive 51.5% growth in open-source contributions since last year.

Nigeria takes the lead with a boost of 65.9% in open-source code contributions over the course of this year.


Pakistan’s surge in open-source contributions can largely be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it compelled more people to work remotely thereby increasing their activity on GitHub and online spaces in general.

Moreover, awareness with respect to open-source projects and their value to the community has definitely increased as well, courtesy of schemes like the GitHub Campus Program.

GitHub’s State of the Octoverse is an annual report that explores a whole year of GitHub highlights and provides insights into developer productivity, security, and how communities developed over the course of the year. According to this year’s report, more than 60 million repositories have been created and over 1.9 billion contributions have been added in total since last year.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 25, 2020 at 12:38pm

IT & ITes export remittances surge to US $648.940 million during July-Nov

https://radio.gov.pk/25-12-2020/it-ites-export-remittances-surges-t...


Information Technology & IT enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising of computer services and call center services have surged to US $648.940 million at a growth rate of 38.16% during July-November of FY 2020-21, in comparison to US $469.713 million during July-November of FY 2019-20. This is the highest growth rate for the FY 2020-21 (July-November), achieved by Pakistan’s IT sector since 2018 when growth rate for the corresponding period was just 13%.

Minister for IT & Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque, lauded the latest exports performance of Pakistan’s IT Industry. He said that the initiative for bringing the IT companies from secondary and tertiary cities into the mainstream is well underway for ensuring holistic growth of Pakistan’s IT Industry and that the PSEB registration fee for IT & ITeS companies, including call centers and IT startups, belonging to underserved areas of the country have been completely waived in order to boost growth of IT industry in the under developed parts of the country and thus contribute to organic growth of IT Industry across Pakistan.

It’s worth mentioning here that Minister for IT Syed Amin Ul Haque has set a target of $5 billion for export remittances through information technology and IT-enabled Services during the next three years. The PSEB performance in just 5 Month of current Fiscal year a great milestone to reach the targeted destination.

“We are 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” Minister IT stated.

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, he added.

This growth is especially laudable keeping in view the current global economic challenges thereby demonstrating the resilience of Pakistan’s IT industry eco system and is a tribute to Pakistan’s IT industry professionals. Pakistan’s IT sector exports products and services to over 100 countries and counts world’s largest entities among its regular clients. Pakistan’s IT sector is the largest net services export industry in Pakistan’s economy.

Managing Director, Pakistan Software Export Board, Mr. Osman Nasir said that all possible efforts are being made to achieve US$5 billion remittances inflow from the country’s IT sector by Year2023 as per target set by Minister IT Syed Amin Ul Haque. PSEB is working on major new initiatives in Marketing, Infrastructure, Capital Availability, Policy and Consulting, HR and Business Development. Efforts are underway to extend maximum facilitation to the startups in all important spheres including access to funding channels. He said that PSEB is being restructured as a front leading global business development and marketing organization, which would help in the development of the IT industry and human capital behind the borders, and generates demand from beyond the borders.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 30, 2020 at 9:58am

#Pakistan #textile sector booked for 6-month with #export orders. “Exports orders for next 6 months are booked and despite #COVID our exports have increased significantly compared to our regional competitors whose exports have shrunk” #economy #coronavirus

Adil Bashir, chairman of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) said the textile sector is currently in the mode of rapid expansion to cater with increased orders and demands. “Exports orders for next 6 months are booked and despite COVID our exports have increased significantly compared to our regional competitors whose exports have shrunk,” Bashir said in a statement.

Textile sector that accounts for more than 60 percent of total exports fetched $6 billion from abroad during the five months of the current fiscal year, up around five percent year-on-year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Textile companies are making capital investments to increase production of fabrics with demand from value-added sector on a strong recovery path compared to stagnation couple of months back due to economic shutdown.

The growth was despite the global economic slowdown caused by the pandemic-related lockdown and waning consumer demand. However, the government’s decision to keep businesses open is leading to benefits of orders diverted from closed economies, while US-China rift is also diverting orders to Pakistan.

Aptma appreciates and acknowledges the much-improved gas supply and pressures of gas and re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) to the export sector units in December.

“This sustained supply of gas / RLNG will maintain the momentum of enhanced exports as currently the sector is working at full capacity,” said Bashir. “It is absolutely essential to sustain this momentum which is being facilitated by the textile policy currently under approval of ECC [Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet], the regionally competitive energy tariffs and the sustained provision of gas / RLNG to the export sector.”

While the government decided to curtail gas quota for RLNG-based power plants to 240 million metric cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from 350 mmcfd, export-oriented and consumer sectors have been put on the priority list.

Bashir said there have been isolated cases of low pressure and supply problems in mixed feeders and Aptma has taken up these issues with the petroleum division who have assured us of all-possible assistance to remove any bottlenecks.

Aptma appreciates the role of ensuring that the export sectors are provided gas / RLNG at sustained pressures despite the huge surge in demand and diminished domestic production this winter.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 30, 2020 at 6:50pm

Yearender: Pakistan's economy continues to move forward amid COVID-19

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-12/30/c_139630275.htm

As economies around the globe have remained under intense pressure owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pakistani economy is showing encouraging signs of a promising recovery with improved economic indicators.

----

According to a recently released Asian Development Bank (ADB) report on development outlook, Pakistan's economy has been getting better despite the persistent challenge of COVID-19.

"Pakistan's economy is recovering, particularly in the manufacturing and construction sectors, supported by the government emergency relief," said the report, a regular supplement to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020.

Quoting data released by the country's central bank, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the improved economic indicators herald new pace in the economic development of Pakistan despite enormous challenges brought by the pandemic.

"...despite COVID-19, great news on economy -- remarkable turnaround," Khan said in a tweet last week, adding that Pakistan's total current account surplus during the first five months of the current fiscal year from July to November rose to 1.6 billion U.S. dollars against a deficit of 1.7 billion U.S. dollars during the same period last year.

The current account balance turned surplus as the government had made prudent and timely policies to maintain a healthy balance between imports and exports, and sustainability in remittances by overseas Pakistanis, Talat Anwar, a renowned economist and former advisor on macroeconomic policy at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, told Xinhua.

"Resultantly, the Pakistani rupee strengthened against the dollar due to less demand from importers and considerable inflows of the greenback into the country," Anwar said, adding that rupee is expected to remain strong in the coming period.

Workers' remittances maintained a strong momentum, remaining above two billion U.S. dollars for a record sixth consecutive month in November. The remittances grew to 2.34 billion U.S. dollars, up 2.4 percent over the previous month and 28.4 percent over November 2019, according to the recently released statistics of the State Bank of Pakistan.

Pakistan also witnessed a growth of over six percent in large scale manufacturing in October 2020 as compared to the same month a year earlier, and the exports have increased to 9.732 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to 9.545 billion U.S. dollars a year earlier, according to the official statistics.

Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division of Pakistan Noor Ahmed said that when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, the Pakistani government was confronted with challenges including saving the lower classes of the society from the adverse impact of COVID-19 and supporting local businesses to run the wheel of the already struggling economy.

"The government took corrective measures to protect the country from bankruptcy by rolling out a multi-billion-rupee coronavirus relief package," Ahmed said, adding that the much-needed subsidies given to the construction sector spurred economic activities and helped the lockdown-bruised economy recover from the slump.

He said Pakistan has an import-based economy, which he said is one of the main factors of inflation in the country. "Realizing the negative impact, the government has been making all-out efforts to switch from the import-based economy to export-based by strengthening the local industries."

Among other indicators placing economy on a positive trajectory is Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), which has remained one of the best performing markets in Asia during the pandemic.

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 1, 2021 at 7:14am

#Pakistan posts ‘Highest-Ever’ #Exports in December 2020. Nation's monthly exports in December 2020 grew 18.3% to $2.357 billion, up from $1.993 billion in December 2019. Exports in 6 months rose 4.9% to $12.104 billion vs $11.533 billion over last year. https://www.brecorder.com/news/40046542


Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan exports continued to flourish hitting over USD 2.3 billion, the highest ever in the month of December.

“It gives me immense pleasure to inform that, Alhamdolillah, according to provisional data, Pakistan exports for the month of December 2020 have grown by 18.3 percent to USD 2.357 billion as compared to USD 1.993 billion in December 2019, an increase of USD 364 million over December 2019,” shared Advisor to Prime Minister on Trade and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood in a series of tweets on Friday.

The advisor said that the figures are “the highest export ever in the month of December.”

For the period July-December 2020, Pakistan’s exports increased by 4.9pc to USD 12.104 billion as compared to USD 11.533 billion in the corresponding period last year.

“This shows the resilience of the economy of Pakistan and it is a vindication of the government’s policy to keep the wheels of economy running during COVID-19 pandemic. I commend our exporters for achieving this feat during these testing times and urge them to aggressively focus on capturing a larger share of international trade,” he said.

Dawood further lauded the exporters calling them 'a great asset’ for Pakistan and saying ‘I salute you all.’

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 22, 2021 at 7:55am

Pakistan's ITeS export remittances comprising computer services and call centre services have surged to $194 million at a growth rate of over 43 percent in December 2020 compared to $135 million during the same month of 2019.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40054778

Advisor on Trade and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood has anticipated that Pakistan’s ICT exports will cross $2 billion this year, amid impressive growth in December.

“I am glad to share that in keeping with the trend this Financial Year, exports of ICT and Telecommunication Services have grown by 43 percent to $194 million in December 2020 as compared to $135 million in December 2019,” said Dawood in a series of tweets.

“For July-Dec 2020, these exports grew by 40pc to $958 million as compared to $684 million during the same period last year,” he added.

The ITeS export remittances comprising computer services and call centre services have surged to $194 million at a growth rate of over 43 percent in December 2020 compared to $135 million during the same month of 2019.

The IT sector has recorded the highest ever export receipts of $194 million in a single month, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication claimed. The government has set a target of $5 billion for export remittances through information technology and IT-enabled services during the next three years.


https://twitter.com/razak_dawood/status/1352518977650569216?s=20

https://twitter.com/razak_dawood/status/1352519258530525192?s=20

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