ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari on Saturday asked the government to focus on the growth of Information Technology industry as it had the potential to generate forex up to $10 billion.

He said rapid adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was veryimportant forbettersocio-economicdevelopment and promotion of a digital economy.

Pakistan has a huge pool of young talent and by providing them training and education in IT field, the country can make rapid increase in its IT exports.

He was talking to media at the close of 22ndITCN Asia Exhibition 2023 organised by the Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan at Pakistan-China Friendship Centre.

ICCI is one of the strategic partners in this event.

The ICCI president said that Pakistan’s neighbours are earning billions of dollars from IT exports, but our IT exports are still far behind our actual potential as Pakistan’s exports ofICT services, including telecommunication, computer and information services, reached $2.6 billion in fiscal year 2021-22.

Mr Bakhtawari stressed that the government should make more conducive policies for the IT industry to bring a new revolution in this high potential sector.

Thethree-day exhibition provided an excellentplatform tothe IT industry players toshowcasethesolutions for all importantissuesof the economyrelated to the government,cloud,data centre,cybersecurity, ERP,education,banking &finance,health and pharma,ecommerce,artificialintelligence, androbotics.

Theseries of conferenceswere also organised on the sidelines of the event to providea learning environmentforthe like-minded people to share knowledge & experiences.

The event also provided a goodopportunity for the entire tech ecosystem of Pakistan along with the leaders from the public & private sectors to gather under one roofandwitness the biggest tech festival of the country.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2023