During July-December (2022-23), the export of computer services grew by 3.15 percent as it surged from US$ 1,033.280 million last fiscal year to US$ 1,065.810 million this year. Among the computer services, the exports of software consultancy services witnessed an increase of 6.34 percent in the last six months, from US$ 368.334 million to US$ 391.697 million while the exports of hardware consultancy services also rose by 209.95 percent from US$ 1.095 million to US$ 3.394 million.
The export and import of computer software-related services surged by 11.29 percent, from US$ 271.697 million to US$ 302.376 million whereas the exports of repair and maintenance services increased to US$ 1.530 million from US$ 0.754 million. In addition, the exports of other computer services witnessed a decrease of 6.28 percent going down from US$ 391.400 million to US$ 366.813 million.
With time software has become a significant field, it’s almost a gold mine and a brilliant opportunity for IT-exporting countries like Pakistan. Pakistan’s IT export industry saw a growth of 34.87 percent in software-related services this fiscal year. Last year the country made $417.485 million from software services, the amount grew to $563.071 million this time, which is a good increase nonetheless.
This has been revealed in the latest performance report of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), an organization functioning under the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication. It stated that the Ministry of IT is taking all possible steps to ensure sustainable growth of Pakistan’s IT industry, and to ensure close coordination with the IT industry and associated stakeholders. The generous incentives from the government and various projects to enhance the capacity and capability of the IT Industry have resulted in strong industry growth rates.
Incentives to the industry include zero income tax on IT and ITeS exports till June 2025, tax breaks for the PSEB-registered IT start-ups for three years, up to 100 percent foreign ownership of IT and ITeS companies, up to 100 percent repatriation of profits for foreign IT and ITeS investors, tax holiday for venture capital funds till 2024, among other incentives.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) published detailed findings about the IT industry and the amount of money each sub-sector namely (Computer Services, IT Services, Telecom Services, and Software Services) made in the IT Export industry. Let’s discuss each one of them and also break them down in detailed statistics.
The SBP has advised banks to provide digital channels for the opening and operation of these special foreign currency accounts. Banks can now provide facilitation of outward remittances from the retained proceeds through the issuance of corporate debit cards after conducting necessary due diligence.
“The amendments will incentivize new entrants in this field to focus on exports and enable existing exporters to boost their business that in turn will create employment opportunities and increase foreign exchange earnings of the country,” said the SBP.
Pakistan earned US$ 1,333.230 million by providing different Information technology (IT) services to various countries during the first six months of the current fiscal year 2022-23. This shows a growth of 2.41 percent as compared to US$ 1,301.880 million earned through the provision of services during the corresponding months of the fiscal year 2021-22, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
Amongst the computer software service industry, exports of repair and maintenance services decreased from $1.446 million last year to $0.662 million this fiscal year. Other computer software services, however, saw a good 7.25 percent increase and rose from $693 million to $743.230 million.
Meanwhile, the export of information services during the period under review declined by 22.97 percent going down from US$ 2.830 million to US$ 2.180 million. Among the information services, the exports of news agency services decreased by 22.36 percent, from US$ 1.923 million to US$ 1.493 million whereas the exports of other information services also decreased by 24.26 percent, from US$ 0.907 million to US$ 0.687 million.
The export of telecommunication services also witnessed a nominal decrease of 0.20 percent as these went down from US$ 265.770 million to US$ 265.240 million during the months under review, the data revealed.
Among the telecommunication services, the export of call center services increased by 5.22 percent during the period as its exports increased from US$ 101.694 million to US$ 107.006 million whereas the export of other telecommunication services decreased by 3.56 percent, from US$ 164.076 million to US$ 158.234 million during the period under review, the PBS data revealed.
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