zeeshan khan
According to Muhammad Umair Nizam, Senior Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), Pakistan’s IT exports are expected to reach $4 billion in FY25, or July 2024–June 2025, making it the nation’s fastest-growing export sector.
We anticipate a 25% increase in year-over-year ( YoY ) growth, compared to $3.2 billion in FY24, he continued.
In order to talk about and consult on developments in Pakistan’s IT exports, as well as its challenges, infrastructure growth, governmental relations, international collaborations, and investments, P@SHA arranged a high-profile interactive CXO meeting of the nation’s leading IT companies in Karachi. A significant number of the importing companies’ CEOs and other senior executives took part in the strategy talks.
Important attendees included P@SHA’s Vice Chairman Raheel Iqbal, Treasurer Haris Naseer, and Central Executive Committee (CEC) Members Hassan Bin Rizwan, Usman Akbar, and Munaf Majeed.
The actions of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoITT), the Specialized Investment Promotion Council (SIFC), and the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) have been praised by the IT sector as a whole, according to Umair Nizam.
However, they insisted that in order to keep up with the rate of growth in the IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) sector, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) must speed up their policy development, regulating decreasing, and implementation efforts for an enabling, facilitating, and encouraging atmosphere.
According to Nizam, traditional rules cause blockages since they are unable to keep up with the rapid expansion of new segments and vertically in a variety of IT fields.
However, the Federal Budget 2025–26, which is anticipated to be unveiled in the initial week of June 2025, was urged by the IT sector to be favorable to business and pro-investment. For this reason, P@SHA has sent the relevant ministries and organizations thorough and based on data budgeting recommendations. Nizam Umair added.
See More: Pakistan’s IT Exports Increase to Record $342 Million in March 2025
In order to attract new domestic and foreign expenditures, P@SHA is primarily anticipating a 10-year tax holiday; simplifying foreign exchange regulations; facilitating a commercial banks; eliminating sales tax anomalies; allocating funds for skill development; and expediting the operational manifestation of IT Parks and Special Technology Zones (STZs).
One of the most important concerns of IT businesses, according to Umair Nizam, is that income taxes be applied equally and economically to both their paid staff and independent contractors operating in the nation. Freelancers only pay 0.25 to 1 percent in taxes, but salaried workers must pay up to 35 percent. He went on to say that this is a clear anomaly that should be addressed in the budget since it deters paid workers.
IT is the only sector in Pakistan alongside an estimated trade surplus of about 75%, according to Muhammad Zohaib Khan, the immediate past chairman of P@SHA. It is also the only industry that can grow exponentially, produce a skilled workforce and create jobs quickly, help reduce the trade deficit, and maintain the health of current and external accounts over the long term.
