Govt sets up Rs10b fund for IT companies

The government has announced major incentives for the IT and telecom sector in a bid to boost overall growth of the economy.

During a meeting on Tuesday, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin approved Rs10-billion fund to give cash rewards to IT companies against their exports and offered 5% rebate for IT exports.

The finance minister was of the view that IT exports needed to be enhanced and the government will provide all-out assistance to the sector. While, welcoming the decision of the finance minister, Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) also expressed concerns over the attitude of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), accusing the tax collection body for harassing exporters and creating hurdles in the growth of IT sector in the country.

The delegation of P@SHA and the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) held a meeting with the finance minister and apprised him of issues faced by the software houses and IT exporters.

Apart from the rebate, it was decided that 1% of annual remittances by the IT sector would be allocated to PSEB every year to carry out skills development, capacity enhancement of IT companies, branding, marketing, and establishment of software technology parks across Pakistan. Foreign companies were also allowed repatriation of their profits.