ISLAMABAD — Dr. Umar Saif, the acting federal minister for IT and telecom, has said that preparations are being made to entice international investors to fund the proposed venture capital fund for entrepreneurs.
The government is currently establishing five thousand collaborative e-working centres for independent workers, and the minister has released a statement announcing his impending visit to Saudi Arabia.
Saif emphasised that interest-free financing were being acquired to set up the e-working centres to help freelancers, which would lead to millions of job openings in Pakistan. He mentioned productive talks with interim Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar on a five-point IT agenda.
The IT industry’s struggle to maintain their dollar profits has been explored at length, and positive developments will be shared soon. According to the government, “this move will not only bring overseas IT accounts to Pakistan and restore investor confidence, but it will also accelerate the flow of dollars into the country and increase the volume of IT exports immediately.”
To further aid IT businesses in attracting overseas clients and business, and to promote brand Pakistan in the global market, the IT minister highlighted that the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) should rethink its role. On Thursday, he made similar comments as he presided over PSEB’s 58th meeting.
The minister emphasised that PSEB must work with trade missions in Pakistani embassies around the world to increase IT exports. “Pakistan has a unique position in terms of IT professionals and time zone; it is very important to introduce its IT/IT-enabled services and products to the world in the required manner,” the minister said.
Saif gave PSEB the order to train 200,000 IT specialists in order to increase IT exports by $5 billion. At the discussion, participants talked about ways to boost investment in the country’s IT sector generally.
