ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday directed the authorities concerned to ensure implementation of the incentives and facilities announced by the government for freelancers and the IT industry within the stipulated time.

Chairing a meeting to review the incentives being provided to the IT sector, PM Khan said the government was extending maximum facilitation to the sectors with immense potential to support the national economy.

Mentioning the historic package announced by the government for promotion of the IT sector, he said the government had introduced massive reforms to facilitate the business sector.

He viewed that the facilitation of the skilled freelancers would lead to increasing the remittances as promotion of the IT exports was among the governments priorities.

The participants of the meeting were apprised of the implementation status of the incentives for the startups, industrial sector and IT companies.

It was told the implementation of the governments recently announced industries and IT package was going on with fast pace and an increase in the number of freelancers had been witnessed consequent to the government’s measures.

The meeting was told that the one-step registration of freelancers through the Pakistan Software Export Board portal had been ensured which would automatically register them with the Federal Board of Revenue.

Moreover, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was also taking steps to ensure the transfer of freelancing funds from abroad through the banking channels. Besides, a mechanism to take benefit from the tax exemptions for the IT companies would also be in place very soon.

An awareness system to ensure the implementation of the announced facilities through commercial banks would also be initiated.

Meanwhile, Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar was briefed on Friday that the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) has so far trained over 74,737 people in various fields of modern technology.

The minister was chairing a high-level meeting to review the Skills for All project under Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme, a press release said.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2022