KARACHI, Feb 18: A 15-member delegation of IT and IT-Enabled Services companies signed a couple of agreements with Indian companies during their recent nine-day visit to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

This was announced by the president of the Pakistan Software Houses Association, Jehan Ara, at a press conference on Friday. She said that during their stay, the delegates also attended the annual conference of National Association of Software and Services Companies in Mumbai.

Answering a question, she said that the Pakistani IT industry was extremely small as compared to the Indian IT industry. "The Indian IT industry has come a long way and is currently worth over $21 billion.

The Pakistani IT industry is very small and, while figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan are much smaller, the Pakistani industry is believed to be worth $150 million. But it is heartening to note that the IT industry in the country has been growing at 50 per cent and is likely to expand by 100 per cent in the next year," she explained.

"All of us realized that Indian companies, such as IT giant Wipro, were willing to do business with Pakistan in the field of information technology. But we also identified a couple of obstacles.

Companies on both sides are slightly uncertain of how the political climate will affect any investment they make in each other's countries. Although the Pakistani government has investment-friendly policies and allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment, there is some confusion as to whether this applies to Indian companies."

She added that another major obstacle standing in the way of closer cooperation and collaboration was the visa issue. "Business people need to be able to move across the borders at a day's notice," she said.