KARACHI: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday announced major incentives for Pakistan’s IT industry including extending the tax holiday on IT exports from 2019 to 2025.
The Prime Minister was speaking at the launch of National Incubation Centre (NIC) Karachi at NED University on Friday in which he announced a range of incentives for the IT industry.
The incentives announced included a 5 percent cash reward on IT exports, similar to rewards for other industries such as textile, sales tax of 5 percent ITeS within the Federal areas, commercial loans for tech companies at preferential rates and special economic zones (SEZs) for the tech sector to be defined by BOI and MoITT.
These key demands of the industry had long been under consideration and the current government has announced these far-reaching incentives at a critical time.
The IT industry is the fastest growing sector of the Pakistan economy, with annual growth rates more than 30 percent and expected to double in size over the next 3-4 years.
Exports have already crossed $2.5 billion, which account for 12 percent of Pakistan’s total exports, thus making it a key component of the balance of trade.
P@SHA’s Secretary General, Shehryar Hydri, lauded the PM’s announcement and said “These incentives are in line with our industry demands and provide a solid foundation to develop our policy over the next 5-10 years. Ownership of the IT sector must come from the very top and the PM has shown that today. We hope that the provinces will also follow suit and support the vision of a Digital Pakistan by normalizing their tax structures.”
Chairman Barkan Saeed also welcomed the announcement, stating “This is a perfect example of our industry working closely with the government to achieve a common goal, the long-term growth of our economy. Minister Anusha Rehman has supported this vision tirelessly and the whole MolTT team should be congratulated for helping us achieve this.”
The NIC is stretched over 20,000 square feet, the $6 million project is the fourth startup incubation centre funded by Ignite, a Government of Pakistan’s technology fund, which formerly functioned as Information Communications and Technology Research and Development Fund.
