PM Imran okays establishment of software city in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday chaired a meeting on Information Technology, where it was decided to establish a software city in Islamabad and take software-related exports of the country to US$ 10 billion, ARY NEWS reported.

During the meeting, it was decided to strengthen the country in the Information Technology sector likewise other countries of the region.

The meeting took key decisions to improve IT exports and spread the span of the sector to all parts of the country.

It was decided to digitally connect the cities using telephone towers across the country other than completing bandwidth and fibre optic process on an immediate basis.

Aimed at improving the software exports, the government decided to introduce a relief package for the small-scale software exporters.

The establishment of a software city spanning over 40 acres of land in the federal capital was also approved, where facilities would be provided to exporters.

The Pakistani institutes would also be directed to make purchases from the local industry as the government plans to eliminate double taxation from federal and provincial governments, the meeting agreed.

It was also decided to give a better exchange rate to the exporters other than providing loans to them.

The meeting also agreed upon interconnecting the Islamabad and Rawalpindi varsities through the digitalization process.

On January 22, Christian Klein, chief executive officer (CEO) SAP called on Prime Minister Imran Khan at Davos, on the sidelines of World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2020.

During the meeting, PM Imran Khan invited German software giant SAP to support ‘Digital Pakistan’ initiative and setup software labs in Pakistan.

Mr. Klein apprised the Prime Minister that SAP has a long association with Pakistan since the last 20 years with its most significant project being a digital system of administering salaries and pensions of the Government of Pakistan.