ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s IT exports are underperforming due to the country’s ‘very bad’ image, former Pakistan Software Houses Association (Pasha) chairman Syed Ahmad told a parliamentary committee on Friday.

“The perception of Pakistan is very bad compared to reality. Big international companies see a wrong image of Pakistan in the news. Worst [of all], travel advisories discourage businesses from coming into Pakistan,” Mr Ahmad told a subcommittee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology.

The subcommittee met to examine the performances of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) under subcommittee chairperson MNA Farhana Qamar.

Says Pakistani software companies perform well as long as they declare themselves to be based in Dubai or the United States

Mr Ahmad told the committee Pakistani software companies perform well as long as they declare themselves to be based in Dubai or the United States.

“Clients consider giving business to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India rather than a Pakistan based software house. Pakistan does not figure among reputable countries for IT businesses,” he said. He added that most Pakistani companies face visa problems.

“Pakistani IT professionals are denied visas to participate in events in the West. Similarly, clients from the US do not get visas to visit Pakistan to explore the IT market here. We urge the government to assist Pakistani IT businesses with visas just like India ensures access of its IT companies to foreign markets through diplomacy,” Mr Ahmad said.

He also regretted the lack of skilled manpower in the IT sector and the disconnect between industry and academia to groom young experts who could advance the software export business.

In his briefing, Mr Ahmad informed the committee that Pakistan’s total IT revenue is estimated to be nearly $2 billion, with nearly 6,000 software businesses employing over 100,000 skilled workers.

“If this industry is to grow to compete in the international markets, we need at least 20,000 high quality professionals a year against the 5,000 who graduate from universities annually,” he said.

He claimed that a highly skilled knowledge worker in the IT industry yielded $20,000 a year, compared to a semi-skilled or unskilled textile worker who earned $1,000.

“The unskilled worker in the agriculture sector fetched $600 annually. We need to encourage the IT industry, which is growing faster than any other sector in the country,” he said.

The subcommittee was also told that while dozens of IT software firms do business worth more than $100 million annually, only a handful in Pakistan are doing $20m to $30m worth of business annually.

PSEB Managing Director Asim Shahryar expressed support for Pasha’s concerns and said the IT sector has grown 76pc in the last three years.

He proposed the mandatory registration of software houses with the PSEB to ensure the quality of software developed by Pakistani companies for export to improve the image of local businesses.

In his suggestions, the Pasha representative said a paradigm shift is needed from an industrial era mindset to a knowledge economy mindset.

He urged the government to launch a public relations campaign for Pakistan as an IT destination.

“Pakistan is completely missing from major studies that clients use, (e.g. Gartner etc). Major agencies should be engaged in studies to promote Pakistan,” Mr Ahmad said.

He also recommended indefinite tax exemptions to enable to industry to grow more, as well as exemption from all withholding taxes for exporters.

In addition to assuring help to advance the industry and push the government for greater tax exemptions, committee chair Ms Qamar directed the Higher Education Commission to take a leading role in bridging the gap between the IT industry and academia.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2017