KARACHI, Aug 11: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Friday that the government considers information technology a key driver of economic growth and has created an enabling environment over the last few years.

This, he said, has resulted in tremendous expansion, value addition and employment generation. He was talking to a delegation comprising corporate leaders, authors, researchers and venture capitalists from various countries that are currently in Pakistan to attend a conference in Karachi arranged by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), a statement said.

The meeting was held here at the Governor’s House on Friday night.

The prime minister said Pakistani companies are well positioned to become active contributors to the global knowledge economy where globalisation, continuous change and information flows are re-inventing the rules of the game. This, he said, is a unique opportunity for corporate leaders in Pakistan to interact with global leaders of the knowledge economy.

Highlighting the achievements of the government for the growth of information and communication technology, he said the reforms in information technology and the telecom sector were underpinned by liberalisation, privatisation, deregulation and transparency.

Elaborating the rapid growth in the telecom sector, he said that tele-density has increased from three per cent in 2000 to 40 per cent in 2007. The total number of fixed and mobile subscribers, he said, has reached 67 million, with a major contribution coming from the mobile sector. Pakistan has already crossed the Asian connectivity average, surpassing India and Sri Lanka, and is close to China, he added.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the telecom sector attracted foreign investment on license and infrastructure to the tune of $9 billion during the last five years and another $4 billion is expected by 2010.

Explaining the incentives given to foreign investors in Pakistan, the prime minister said up to 100 per cent equity ownership, 100 per cent repatriation of profits and corporate tax exemption on IT exports till 2016 are the salient features of the government’s policy. Owing to incentives and programmes as well as the availability of a large pool of English-speaking technical manpower, Mr Aziz said Pakistan offers a tremendous competitive advantage for the corporate sector.

The meeting was also attended by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Khan Leghari, Minister of State for Information Technology Ishaq Khan Khakwani, secretary IT and the PSEB managing director.—APP