PM Kakar Approves Plan To Bring PayPal, Starlink To Pakistan

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Huq Kakar has approved bringing PayPal, and Starlink to Pakistan

According to Dr.Saif, IT exports can reach $10 billion and startups could raise $1 billion

The PM said a training program is already going on for 200,000 IT professionals

On Wednesday, caretaker prime minister Dr. Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar approved the Ministry of Information and Technology (IT) and Telecommunications’ plan for a new comprehensive policy that will help to enhance IT exports. This plan was approved during a review meeting on the Information Technology and Telecom sectors. During the meeting, the ministry presented initiatives for Pakistan’s IT development and an action plan to increase domestic IT exports. In this meeting, Caretaker Minister for IT and Telecom Dr Umar Saif, appreciated the ministry for thinking something beyond to facilitate IT professionals. Furthermore, he also appreciated him for his comprehensive measures aimed at tapping the unlimited potential of the country’s IT sector. 

The caretaker prime minister also signed the directives to the Ministry of Finance the State Bank of Pakistan, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), and the Ministry of Energy to cooperate and collaborate with the Ministry of IT on this matter. Dr. Said appreciated the efforts and said that the new IT policy aims to enhance the country’s digital exports through institutionalizing dollar retention accounts and enabling an easy flow of money through IT corporate debit cards.

During the meeting, Mr.Kakakr approved the plan comprises of the following points:

• Increase IT exports by institutionalizing dollar retention accounts, IT corporate debit cards, and streamlining tax issues
• Establish a training program for IT professionals to add $5 billion to IT exports
• To support IT professionals bring Paypal and Stripe to Pakistan to facilitate online payments
• To raise the potential earnings of 500,000 freelancers by an additional $3 billion per year, co-working facilities will be established
• Introduce Starlink to improve connectivity throughout the country
• Create a government-backed Pakistan Venture Capital Fund to attract foreign venture capitalists and enable $1 billion VC investment in startups
• Enabling active spectrum sharing and offering the telecom sector the important incentives, rules, and regulations to get ready for the future 5G auction
• To enhance local demand, incentives are provided for local smartphone manufacturing and export, and smartphone financing channels are introduced

Speaking and highlighting the country’s cell phone industry Dr. Saif mentioned that the nation is the seventh-largest market worldwide, therefore the ministry plans to encourage domestic production and export of smartphones to attract foreign investments. The ministry plans to revolutionize the IT industry and digitize all government institutions at the federal level to improve the tax collection system and identify tax evasion. Moreover, the sectors are constantly trying and putting efforts into developing the country’s IT industry by facilitating international standard IT training to students and increasing the skilled workforce in the region. 

All these initiatives seek to increase Pakistan’s IT exports and further digitize the economy, promoting economic growth and development.

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