IT minister urges companies to invest in Pakistani startups

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Technology Umar Saif has urged the companies to invest in startups in Pakistan.

Addressing the event today, he said the government was initiating a whole series of interventions to support them and lower their risk.

“Pakistan has a convenient time zone and world-class IT professionals,” adding that the caretaker government was taking measures for digitisation and training of 200,000 IT professionals across the country.

Umar Saif said Pakistani youth are the second largest online workforce in the world and we are working to make it easy for them to get paid.

There will be no restriction on the IT industry pertaining to dollar transactions, he said, adding that the interim government is removing all barriers to make it possible.

Stressing the significance of Pakistani youth, IT Minister Saif said they are the second largest online workforce in the world and the government was working to make it easy for them to get paid.

Earlier, Caretaker IT Minister Dr Umar Saif confirmed the federal government’s plan to bring PayPal, Stripe to Pakistan besides establishing co-working spaces for freelancers.

The IT Minister Dr Umar Saif made the statement after holding a meeting with Caretaker Prime Minister (PM) Anwaarul Haq Kakar. During the meeting, a comprehensive project was approved by PM Kakar for promoting the IT industry.

Dr Saif said that the IT exports could be enhanced to $10 billion if hurdles are removed. The premier directed finance, commerce, energy, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to hold consultations.