The Information Telecommunication (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer and call center services surged to $763 million during the first five months (July-November) of the fiscal year 2020-21, revealed the latest performance report of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB).
This is at a growth rate of 39 percent, compared to the remittances of $549 million recorded during the same period of 2019-20.
For only the month of November 2020, the IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer services and call center services clocked at $168 million. This is 51 percent higher than the $111 million recorded during November 2019.
The month over month data shows IT and ITeS export remittances to grow from $151 million in October 2020 to $168 million in November 2020.
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The comparison of annual remittances for the current period and the last year show the ITeS export remittances at $1.230 billion in the fiscal year 2019-2020, showing a 23.71 percent increased compared to $994.848 million during the same period last year (2018-2019).
The Ministry of IT is taking all possible steps to ensure sustainable growth of Pakistan’s IT industry and close coordination with the IT industry and associated stakeholders. The various projects and incentives from the government to enhance the capacity and capability of the IT industry have resulted in strong industry growth rates, a press release by the ministry said.
“The Ministry of IT is taking all possible steps to ensure sustainable growth of Pakistan’s IT industry”
Really?
This is not even close to what Pakistanis can do IF there is a reliable, fast, and working credit card payment processor in Pakistan. (Recurring Payments are essential also and not just one-time payments.)
Right now small-timers have to use services like Payoneer and other marketplaces, which are not conducive to sales. Plus they don’t allow people to sell from their own websites.
Only the big companies can use merchant account services from banks that have hard criteria to accept merchants.
Force the banks to accept small businesses for their merchant account /payment processor programs and see how people in Pakistan start making much more exports than now.
Freelancers and SMEs can explode IT-enabled exports. Let them do it. Set them free from the clutches of the old mindset in the state bank and private banks.