Islamabad, Aug 29: At ITCN Asia 2024, a Tech Festival on Thursday, the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) reaffirmed its dedication to developing Pakistan’s IT and telecom sectors.
OICCI President Rehan Shaikh gave a keynote speech that was upbeat about the future. He emphasized Pakistan’s enormous potential for growth in IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS), the optimization of which can significantly increase both export earnings and the country’s industrial output.
He emphasized OICCI’s lengthy position as Pakistan’s oldest and most illustrious chamber of commerce, representing more than 200 multinational corporations (MNCs) and making a significant contribution to the nation’s economic expansion.
He underlined how crucial a strong IT environment is to Pakistan’s ability to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and sustain economic growth, in addition to serving as a catalyst for business efficiency. “A sustainable environment is what we need, and we need a platform that helps us implement those policies,” he continued.
But he also emphasized the issues that must be resolved if Pakistan is to advance in the IT industry on a worldwide scale. These difficulties included building infrastructure, guaranteeing steady investment and legislative support, and closing the skills gap in specialist fields like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
He claimed that by prioritizing and investing in IT services, Pakistan was demonstrating to international investors that the country was not only open for business, but also capable of handling sophisticated, high-tech operations in an environment that encouraged creativity and expansion.
According to Shaikh, Pakistan’s domestic IT industry has the potential to develop to over $6 billion yearly, while the country’s export income from IT/ITeS might reach between $10 and 18 billion by 2028. Moreover, he underscored the revolutionary capacity of digitization, which has the ability to unleash an annual economic worth of $35 billion by 2030. Digitizing agriculture and SMEs, which account for almost two-thirds of Pakistan’s GDP, will enable the nation to greatly boost exports, employment rates, and GDP.
He complimented the State Bank of Pakistan for its work, especially in carrying out the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which increases financial access by utilizing digital onboarding and other technology. He pointed to the country’s expanding financial landscape as seen by the introduction of five digital banks into the market, many of which were supported by international investors.
