Aitizaz Hassan

ISLAMABAD, July 18: The government has formed three committees for the development of information technology (IT) and the telecom sector and enhancement of digital economic activities in the country, WealthPK reports.

The committees on IT exports, personal data protection and growth of the telecom sector have been constituted on the directives of the federal minister for information technology and telecommunication. The committees will finalise their recommendations within a week and present them to the prime minister, who is the chairman of the advisory council.

The spokesperson for the ministry, Ali Kazim, told WealthPK that the special committees were formed on the demand of the representatives of the IT industry. He said that the decision was made in the preliminary meeting of the prime minister’s advisory council on IT and the digital economy.

He said that the meeting discussed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects related to IT and telecom and broadband services in un-served and under-served areas to provide digital solutions to the issues at the micro level and enhance digital economic activities in the country.

The spokesman said that the matters related to the IT and telecom industry and the proposals presented by the stockholders were discussed to enhance the digital economy of Pakistan by identifying the key areas of growth, the challenges and way forward to overcome the challenges.

The stakeholders and experts including Syed Junaid Imam, Babar Suhail, Muhammad Umar Malik, Osman Nasir, Badar Khushnood and Amir Ibrahim briefed the advisory council on the issues related to the IT and telecom industry.

The members of the council said that no new tax should be imposed on IT practitioners, freelancers, e-commerce platforms and startups to facilitate domestic digital transformation and promote growth in exports. Otherwise, people would be encouraged to park a significant portion of their earnings abroad, which would be a loss to the national exchequer, they added.

They said that the IT sector was the fastest growing industry that needed the lowest investment to increase Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, so they had to ensure ease of doing business and policy continuity as much as possible. They stressed the need for consistency in government policies to attract local and international investors. They said that uncertainty was caused owing to changes in policies and situations, which affected the efforts being made for the promotion of digital economy.

The members of the council also stressed the need for support to the industry from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Agreeing to the proposals, Minister for IT and Telecom Syed Aminul Haque said that the purpose of constituting the advisory council was to address the issues of the IT and telecom industry.

“When all the stakeholders and institutions are on board and the issues are resolved in a timely manner, there is no reason the industry cannot become the backbone of the country’s economy and steer the country out of the economic crisis,” the minister told the meeting.

Credits: INP-WealthPk