Engineering Post Report
There has been a consistent growth in Information Technology (IT) & Information Technology (IT)-enabled services (ITeS) remittances over the last five years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.85 per cent, the highest growth rate in comparison with all other industries and the highest in the region.
Micro enterprises, independent consultants and free-lances have contributed an estimated $ 500 million in IT & ITeS exports. The annual domestic revenue exceeds 1 billion .IT export remittances, including telecommunication, computer and information services have surged to $ 1.298 billion at a growth rate of 41.39 per cent during July-February FY 2021, in comparison to $ 918 million during the corresponding period of FY2020.
ITeS export remittances comprising of computer services and call centre services have also surged to $ 1.113 billion at a growth of 41.65 per cent during July-February FY2021 as compared to $ 785.686 million during same period last year.
The number of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) registered IT & ITeS companies as of March 30,2021 was 3013 compared to 2474 as of March 2020, showing a growth of 21 per cent.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in telecommunication during July-February FY2021 was $ 101.1 million. Telecom operators had invested an amount of $ 363.9 million during July-February FY2021.The main driver behind this investment was the cellular mobile sector which had invested $ 253..5 million during the period under report.
The overall investment in the telecom sector during the two quarters of FY2021 crossed $ 465.0 million. Cellular mobile subscribers (number of active SIMs) in Pakistan reached 182 million at the end of March 2021 compared to 167.3 million at the end of June 2020, showing a growth of 8.6 per cent in nine months period. Broadband connections as of end March 2021, increased to 100 million registering 19.7 per cent increase as compared to FY2020.
Meanwhile, PEMRA has issued 258 licenses for FM Radio and 4173 Cable TV Licenses and has deposited Rs 105.0 billion in the national exchequer.
