- Prime Minister Shehbaz formed a body on fixed tax regime for the IT sector.
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the establishment of special training IT zones.
- He set an export target of $4.5 billion for the IT sector next year.
In a bid to boost the country’s IT exports, the federal government has decided to introduce a fixed tax regime for the sector in the Budget 2023-24, which will be tabled in the National Assembly on June 9.
This was announced by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif while chairing a high-level meeting to consider the budget proposals for the information technology and telecommunication sector, according to a statement issued by the media wing of the Prime Minister’s Office.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister directed the concerned authorities to include mega incentives for the IT sector in the next financial year’s budget so as to promote the country’s IT exports.
Besides, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif constituted a committee on fixed tax regime and directed the committee to submit its recommendations immediately.
In the meeting, it was also agreed in principle to provide special incentives to new business start-ups in the IT sector. Special incentives were also approved for promotion of business and trade through modern technology.
The meeting also decided to take steps that were important to encourage youth to start their own businesses. The Prime Minister approved the major decision to create special training IT zones for the promotion of entrepreneurship.
He said that the government will spend a lot of money on training the youth in the IT sector. The Prime Minister further said that currently a total of 45,000 people are being trained in the IT sector across the country.
The Prime Minister further said that in the upcoming financial budget, the government will distribute one lakh laptops among the youth on the basis of merit.
He said that during the previous regime of the Muslim League (N) government, they had distributed laptops among the youth of the country and by utilizing this facility, the youth increased their foreign exchange reserves during the Corona epidemic.
The Prime Minister set a target for the IT sector to increase its exports to $4.5 billion for the next year.
In the meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed to include all the recommendations related to IT in the budget of the next financial year. By approving the recommendations related to IT in the upcoming budget, wide employment opportunities will be created for the youth.
He also directed the authorities to take necessary steps to provide special guidance and government support to the youth to set up new companies in the IT sector.
The Prime Minister also directed to organize road shows of the IT sector abroad to make the world aware of the facilities offered by the IT sector in Pakistan.