TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) export remittances, including telecommunication, computer, and information services, have surged to $830 million during July-October of the current fiscal year, posting a growth rate of 39.26 percent as compared to $596 million during the same period of 2020-21.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, net exports for the period July-October 2021-22 are $630 million, which is 75.9 percent of $830 million in exports. For the same period last year, the net exports were $423 million, meaning 70.97 percent of $596 million in exports.

The government has set a target of $5 billion for export remittances through IT and IT-enabled services for the next three years.

Spokesperson of the ministry told Business Recorder that the target of IT export remittances set for 2023 is $5 billion after record remittances made last year.

The official added that more than 6,000 Pakistan-based IT companies were providing IT products and services to entities in over 100 countries.

The export remittances of IT and IT-enabled services, comprising computer services and call center services, surged to $2.123 billion at a growth rate of 47.43 percent in the fiscal year as compared to $1.44 billion during 2019-2020. The spokesperson said the government was taking all possible steps to ensure a long-term IT industry growth trajectory and to enhance IT industry exports to $5 billion by 2023