It is welcome to note that the IT sector has  grabed third place in the list of top export sectors of the country.  Last year, the earning from this sector were nearly $3 billion which is a remarkable achievement for the ailing economy.

And most strikingly, the Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, the UAE  and also our close neighbour Iran have attrative  markets for our IT products. If the problems faced by the IT sector in the country are solved, its exports can be taken up to 15 to 20 billion dollars annually. Significant progress can be made towards making them economically independent.

Financial experts say that the IT sector is of great importance as there are unlimited opportunities to increase exports in this sector but they say that it requires a huge investment on the line of the textile industry which is the backbone of our economy.  It is worth-mentioning here that our IT companies and freelancers have proved thier worth thorugh their good skills globally without much government support or assistance. However, now the need is being strongly felt to improve the  environment required for this very important sector and that can be attached by giving the status of full industry like the cotton or other manufacturing sectors.

In fact, one of the solutions to get the country out of the economic crisis is to increase exports. In this regard, the IT sector is very important because there are unlimited opportunities to increase exports in this sector and it does not require much investment like other productive sectors. But the irony is  that there is lack of continuity in the growth rate during the same period. The main cause  for this is the existing global economic environment and the inept policies of our successive governments, which have a direct bearing on the IT products.  If we want to  earn a good  foreign exchange,  the IT sector should be given the status of a regular industry and the environment required for it should be improved. 

It is good to see that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month issued instructions to create a clear road map for increasing domestic IT exports. Terming IT sector as lucrative sector, he noted that all necessary legal and policy measures should be taken to increase investment and exports in the IT sector and to make the youth professional in order to take full advantage of the potential of this sector.  And work on technical training projects should be accelerated. The caretaker government had made a lot of progress in this sector which was brought to the notice of the Prime Minister on priority basis.

Most importantly, a memorandum of understanding was also signed with Saudi Arabia last year. Exports of the IT sector have doubled, but the data also shows that the growth rate of the sector has not continued, which is mainly due to government policies that restrict the work of IT companies and freelancers. and directly affect the environment and finances.  The positive thing in this regard is that the Govt is aware of the potential of this sector and is also  aware of the problems faced by this sector, so a comprehensive efforts on the part of the Govt can  get bring about a good change in the IT sector.  And now that the new Govt has taken charge, it must take valuable steps for the development of this sector as soon as possible.  On the positive side is  the government decisin to have given tax exemption on IT exports till 2025 and one may advise the Govt to continue with this exemptoin so that the IT exports can be flourished. Last year,  the then Government signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia, which paved the way for foreign investment in this very important IT companies. It was much appreciated by the experts of this sector as it is aimed to promote research and innovation through joint efforts, ventures, training programs and establishment of innovation centers of excellence and also separate branches for advanced technologies at the university level to guide and help the youth.  This MOU was  aimed at improving the digital infrastructure of the two country through expansion of their respective fiber optic networks, data and research units and also cloud computing connectivity and artificial ingtellegence. 

Experts have been hailing this development as herald of a new era of cooperation as it has opened opportunities for cooperation and assistance in the e-governance sector, and what we may call the smart infrastructure, e-health, e-education and emerging technologies like the AI, robotics, blockchain, and cloud computing and the Artificial intellegence.

 Experts say that if developed on correct lines, we can raise our IT exports from 2.5 billion dollars per year to as much as 15 to 20 billion dollars per year within few years. The previous Caretaker Govt also took an important decisoin by  announcing that the exam of the 75 thousand IT graduates who pass every year in the country  will be taken through a centralized examination by the Higher Education Commission.  In this process, the successful candidates will also be provided jobs to qualified youth. In fact, this is a good steps  in order to overcome the existing  shortage of talented and skilled workforce in the information technology sector, which should be placed among the priority list. In fact, it is a big news to know that every year, our universities have been  providing as many as 75 thousand information technology graduates.

The then Information Minister in the Caretker set up has said said that an IT graduate or a software developer, if his quality is not good enough to be paid 28 to 30 dollars per hour globally, then they are not even recruited in these companies, it is not like the world. In India the demand for software is low, India's IT industry is worth $150 billion so it is not a lack of demand but we have a shortage of skilled people and graduates even though our universities are producing 75 thousand graduates every year. It may be recalled here that E-commerce market at global level provides our  IT experts an excellent opportunities to produce a workforce to sell their products all over the world and make a niche for themselve at world level.

Sadly, we are lagging far behind and our sales are only five percent, which means that we to lot of efforts to compensate our IT workforce, which is still facing a lot of hardships while working both at home and from abroad. We can learn from China which has secured a 22 percent of its income through e-commerce sector.

Our neighbours  India are also ahead of us and have fetched  up to eight percent shared in e-commerce.

Published in The Daily National Courier, April, 24 2024

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