PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif has once again declared the resolve of his government to take necessary steps to exploit the full potential of the IT and telecom sector in the progress and development of the country. Talking to a four-member delegation of GSM Association, led by its Asia Pacific head Julian Gorman, he said that mechanisms for IT sector reforms and digitization are being implemented, with a focus on improving the common man’s access to the internet, digital infrastructure, e-governance and professional training for the youth in digital skills and innovations as well as promoting business in this sector.
There is no doubt that Pakistan has a vibrant IT and telecom sector, which is playing a crucial role in the socio-economic development of the country. The sector started receiving special attention when prominent scientist Dr. Attaur Rehman launched a prudent policy and programmes to spur growth of science and technology as well as information technology and the telecom sector. The successive governments played their role in taking the process forward but regrettably the original momentum was lost due to lack of vision by his successors. In this backdrop, it is encouraging to note that the incumbent government has allocated a historic development budget for the sector and initiated a number of moves to accelerate its growth. Increase in the development budget is appreciable but the Government needs to focus on some other key issues that mar prospects for realization of the envisaged goals as for as development of IT and telecom is concerned. Despite the fact that at the moment IT is the only sector offering attractive jobs to highly qualified manpower but heavy taxation is forcing many companies and corporations to move their headquarters abroad. Similarly, cellular companies are justifiably complaining about excessive taxes with negative effect on their businesses. Introduction of 5G technology has the prospects of revolutionizing the sector but shamefully we have not been able to do so and the deadline for the purpose is extended again and again. In its reports, the GSMA has made some good suggestions to the Government to spur growth of IT and Telecom, which need to be seriously considered by the Government.
