Karachi – Leading Pakistani tech entrepreneur, investor and mentor to various information technology startups, Noman Said has apprised that ITCN Asia 2023 held in Karachi a couple of weeks ago has *generated upwards of $110 million* in exports and services contracts for Pakistan.
ITCN Asia 2023 in Karachi is a huge achievement for Pakistan in purely financial & economic terms as well and more such exhibitions of international significance and relevance in IT & ITeS are on the cards.
Noman Said informed that the trade economists who attended the ITCN Asia 2023 and the then provincial caretaker finance minister, Younus Dagha, agreed that *Pakistan’s potential for IT & IT-enabled services exports in the near-term of less than 1 year is $5 billion; in the short-term of 1 – 3 years is $10 billion and in the medium-term of 3 – 5 years is $15 billion.*
He added that Pakistan can create 500,000 new jobs for the age bracket of 18 – 35 years within 3 years; provided special technology zones authority (STZA) is aggressively activated; SBP & FBR are enabled to facilitate tech & IT industry; SECP & PSEB encourage IT companies to register and operate their businesses & export drives as per international best practices and national & provincial IT boards divert their endeavors towards meeting domestic and international demand.
Noman Said opined that Pakistan should target $25 billion in IT exports by FY2030 through producing 100,000 quality graduates in IT and its allied fields every year in consultation with the IT companies as these companies are the real stakeholders of the IT industry – and, they can assist the federal & provincial governments in formulating and implementing the required curriculum and programs by means of identifying their HR needs, gaps and projections.
Additionally, the same number of students can be trained every year in various IT verticals, certifications, continuing education, emerging technologies and different niches within the tech sphere.
