PayPal, Stripe's Arrival in Pakistan Confirmed!

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker IT Minister Dr Umar Saif has confirmed the federal government’s plan to bring PayPal, Stripe to Pakistan besides establishing co-working spaces for freelancers, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

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.

Dr Saif said that the IT sector would play a vital role in economic stability after the cooperation in the projects. He detailed that steps are being taken to train youths for improvement in the services sector.

“The government commenced working on its plan to prepare 200,000 IT professionals with the collaboration of the industry and academia. The professionals would play a role to increase IT exports by $5 billion.”

In a detailed message on X (formerly Twitter), the caretaker IT minister said that the caretaker premier approved and appreciated the plan to Launch government-backed Pakistan Venture Capital Fund to attract top-tier international VCs to Pakistan which would enable $1 Billion VC investment in startups.

He added that it has also been approved to Launch Starlink in Pakistan to improve connectivity throughout the country.

Under the plan, the government would enable active spectrum sharing, forward-looking taxation policies, regulations and incentives for the telecom industry to prepare for the upcoming 5G auction within 10 months.

“Incentives for local manufacturing and export of smart phones in Pakistan, as well as smartphone financing platform (so that people can easily get phones on monthly instalments) to enhance local demand,” he concluded.

The Prime Minister has approved and appreciated our plan for the Ministry of IT and Telecom:

1. Enhance IT exports by institutionalising dollar retention accounts, IT corporate debit cards to enable easy flow of money in and out of retention accounts, streamlining tax issues and… pic.twitter.com/QAQPT4ObZ8

— Umar Saif (@umarsaif) September 6, 2023