Pakistan IT Exports Revenue crosses USD 116 Million

Pakistan IT industrys export revenue as reported by State Bank of Pakistan SBP has hit US US dollar 116 million mark in the financial year 2006..07, crossing the target of US US dollar 108 million set for the year. This indicates a quantum increase of 61.18 percent in IT exports when compared to the previous years export revenue figure of US US dollar 72 million

SBP, in its statement for the year 2006..07, has estimated the countrys IT services export revenue at US US dollar 116 million, which indicates a consistent annual growth, a spokesman of Pakistan Software Export Board PSEB said. BPO and call centers have made a significant contribution in the increased exports due to adequate telecom facilities and trained manpower available in the country. Considering that the 15 percent GST imposed on computer hardware in the federal budget 2006..07 has not yet been removed, this rise in IT exports is remarkable.

The current IT exports annual growth rate is still understated as only 5 percent of the countrys registered companies file their exports data with SBP. PSEB is making vigorous efforts to ensure that the export figures of all IT companies are reported to SBP.

The State Bank of Pakistan utilized the BPM 5 Reporting System to report the IT exports revenue, which also restricted the export revenue figure to US US dollar 116 million in 2006..07. The Reserve Bank of India, on the other hand, follows the BPM 6 Reporting System, which raises its exports to billions of US dollars. BPM6 includes sales to multinationals, earnings of overseas officials & salaries of non..immigrant overseas workers to export revenue. Utilizing the BPM 6 Reporting System, Pakistan IT Industrys exports are estimated at US US dollar 1.4 billion while the total industry size is estimated at US US dollar 2.8 billion.

With over 1042 IT companies registered with PSEB, the countrys IT exports grew by an average of 50 percent in each of the last four years. PSEB has been facilitating the countrys IT industry through its programs in Human Capital, Office Space, Marketing, Company Capability Development, Telecom Bandwidth, Industry Finance, Public Policy, Strategy and Research, and Facilitation. The Government of Pakistan has also introduced a package of incentives for the IT sector including tax exemptions until 2016, 100 percent foreign equity and earnings repatriation and low..rent facilities for IT companies.