IT minister heads to Saudi Arabia for talks on tech sector investment

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Information Technology Minister Umar Saif on Saturday left for an official visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss job opportunities for skilled Pakistanis in the kingdom’s thriving IT sector.

“Taking Pakistan’s delegation of IT companies to KSA. InshAllah this will result in investments in Pakistan and big business for Pakistani IT companies in Saudi Arabia,” the minister wrote on X.

During his visit, Umar Saif will get an update on a $100 million Saudi-Pakistan Tech House project announced earlier this year.

Taking Pakistan’s delegation of IT companies to KSA. InshAllah this will result in investments in Pakistan and big business for Pakistani IT companies in Saudia. pic.twitter.com/OLmLaN5eY2

— Umar Saif (@umarsaif) September 30, 2023

The project aims to foster a strategic partnership between IT firms and enterprises based in the two countries. It was first mentioned by Prince Fahad bin Mansour at Future Fest 2023, organized in Pakistan in January.

Earlier, Umar Saif said that talks were underway with both PayPal and Stripe regarding offering services in the country.

Talking to media, the IT minister said that government intends to convince PayPal to provide service through a third party in Pakistan on similar lines to Egypt where PayPal offers its services through a third party.

He said that the ministry has requested PayPal to allow Pakistani freelancers to bring money to Pakistan through a one-way service. “Talks will be held with PayPal in this regard in a week’s time,” he said.