The Information Technology Agreement (ITA) is currently signed by 54 World Trade Organization (WTO) members and Pakistani Government is considering to join the pack.
As part of being a signatory to ITA, the local manufacturing companies stand to benefit from the arrangement because complying with the agreement means abolishing or reducing the taxes and duties on import of IT related products from overseas.
This agreement, if signed, is going to greatly impact the local manufacturing industry of Pakistan.
The Engineering Development Board (EDB) in this regards was tasked to prepare a study to help government better understand the agreement and also to advise if Pakistan should sign the agreement or not.
According to Engineering Development Board website, it supports ITA and has proposed the government to sign the agreement as it is ultimately going to benefit the country.
Overall, this can trigger a change in Pakistan’s IT sector. It will make it attractive to import IT equipment in bulk, including PCs and their peripherals, mobile/ smart phones & tablets. Technology can be promoted at a much cheaper price across Pakistan and increase its usage which is one of ITA’s sole objective.
Further information can be found about ITA and its benefits on EDB’s website.
It maybe recalled that Pakistan already offers tax holiday for IT exports and it intends to keep the tax exemption for IT exports till 2019.
Via: Phoneworld.com