KARACHI: Pakistan’s exports of information and communication technology would likely double this fiscal year under the raft of government measures including cash rewards to the IT companies, rebates on tech products and services exports, and profit repatriation for multinational firms, experts said.
IT exports could jump to $4 billion in a year if the package for the IT and telecom sector announced by the government gets implemented, according to experts.
Pakistan Business Council (PBC) CEO Ehsan A Malik said unlike the export of goods, which was supported by rebates and concessional loans, the export of services was not receiving comparable incentives.
“The PBC has been advocating parity much along the lines of the Services Export from India Scheme (SEIS). For a country with a large young population, services can provide a meaningful source of foreign exchange earnings. The package just announced is in the right direction,” Malik said.
However, the provincial general sales tax (GST) regime has to stop taxing call centres and business process outsourcing units for services rendered to overseas clients, he said.
He said banks need to review their collateral policies and lend against accounts receivable and work in progress. The service industry seldom has physical collateral like real estate and stock to secure borrowings. The cash incentive reward offered will incentivise exporters of software to remit earnings instead of holding these abroad, Malik added.
“Having achieved...
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