PM chairs meeting to review fiscal, non fiscal incentives for IT

ISLAMABAD, Dec 12 (APP):The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday chaired a meeting to review fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for IT sector of the country.
Minister of State for IT & Telecom, Ms. Anusha Rahman Khan, Secretary (IT) Mr. Rizwan Bahshir Khan and other senior MoIT officials were also present in the meeting said a press release.
A detailed Presentation was given by the Minister of State for IT & Telecom on existing IT/ITeS Exports and domestic IT business potential in terms of industry revenue. The meeting acknowledged that IT/ITeS industry is currently a flourishing sector in comparison to other sectors of the economy.
The meeting was informed about the lack of incentives and challenges faced by the IT/ITeS industry in comparison to the competing & neighboring economies. Issues like high taxation on IT/ITeS companies, supply of quality IT Human Resource and limited domestic opportunities were also discussed in the meeting.
In this regard, a competitive analysis of Pakistan’s IT industry in comparison to other important IT destinations of the region like Philippines, China, Bangladesh and India was also shared.
Minister of State for IT & Telecom presented number of proposals to boost IT/ITeS exports including both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as extension of Zero rated income tax regime on IT/ITeS exports and removal of other local taxes.
The meeting was informed that Special Economic Zones (SEZs) of IT/ITeS sector are a good opportunity to boost country’s IT/ITeS exports.
PM was informed that IT Export got doubled during last 4 years. Due to effective policy measures, Pakistan is being ranked at number 3 in freelancing. Moreover Pakistan is now attracting businesss in IT sector and recently, as reported by Indian press, the IT business from India is shifting to Pakistan
Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of Ministry of IT & Telecom and directed that this Ministry, in-consultation with relevant stakeholders, should aggressively work to devise a framework for the establishment of Tech SEZs across the country.
In the end, a land allocation model with Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) concept was also deliberated to fulfill the physical infrastructure needs of the said industry