Thursday, September 11, 2025 Islamabad: HBL P@SHA’s Annual ICT Awards have been playing a strong, catalytic role in driving innovation and growth for the past 20 years in Pakistan by recognizing the leaders in the IT industry as the IT industry, spearheaded by P@SHA, is in a unique position to uplift the entire country out of the economic challenges.
P@SHA, the apex trade body of the IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) industry, is conducting the 21st annual HBL P@SHA ICT awards on September 19th this year; and, through a detailed process of evaluation by a jury of world-renowned members, will cover 10 core categories along with 41 sub and cross categories – which will include startups, ecommerce companies and large exporters in the IT industry, along with recognizing innovations and excellence in several business verticals.
It is pertinent to note that Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Federal Minister for IT and Telecom (MoITT), has graciously accepted to honor the top performers as the Chief Guest.
Chairman P@SHA, Mr. Sajjad Mustafa Syed, apprised that these awards are free-to-apply and no fee is charged. That is the reason why companies, small or large, exporters, investors, new or established industry players, students and women entrepreneurs are all welcome to apply to the relevant categories, he added.
HBL P@SHA ICT Awards are not only the most prestigious IT & tech awards of Pakistan; but, they provide a gateway to the international recognition, promotion and the right positioning to awardees on a truly global-scale.
The winners and runner ups will consequently be participating in Asia-Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2025 – scheduled to be held in Chinese Taipei – to showcase their talent and compete on an international platform. P@SHA has been regularly featured in APICTA Awards over the last decade with 10 APICTA Awards bagged in 2024 – and, that made Pakistan one of the top 5 countries in IT talent & achievements.
The IT industry is currently the only industry in Pakistan which can grow at an exponential rate and contribute to exports growth in the same spirit by the highest cash flow positive grading and the easiest to expand since the industry relies only on availability of talent and conducive policies to help it grow. It is pertinent to note that the IT industry exports have been posting growth in double digits consecutively in the last many years and have soared from approximately $1.4 billion in FY20 to $3.8 billion in FY25.
However, the vision of the Prime Minister and SIFC is to achieve $15 billion IT exports by FY30 requires major facilitative taxation measures; entailing consistent & well-defined taxation regime for the IT industry for the next 10 years; easing of foreign exchange regulations for IT companies and predictable macroeconomic & investment policies.
