Vibrant, well-timed policies can turbo-charge IT export revenues and place Pakistan among world’s leading digital hubs: MD AKS iQ
Muhammad Umar Waqqas
KARACHI: Pakistan’s information-technology exports are on a record-breaking streak. State Bank of Pakistan data show IT- and IT-enabled-services (ITeS) receipts reaching US$2.18 billion in the first seven months of FY 2024-25, up 26.5 per cent year-on-year. March alone set a monthly record at US$342 million, a 12 per cent jump on the same month last year.
“With more than 60 per cent of Pakistanis under 30, any development plan must start with our youth,” says Shahzad Arif, managing director of the AI-driven FinTech firm AKS iQ. He further says “Train this talent at the right time and our young people can power a high-voltage IT industry and anchor long-term economic growth.”
A Statista outlook reinforces that confidence, projecting domestic IT-services revenue of US$2.63 billion in 2025 and an average annual growth rate of 7.3 per cent through 2029.
Youth at the core
Shahzad Arif calls Pakistan’s young workforce “genius brimming with untapped potential, “stressing the need for accelerated up-skilling in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and cybersecurity. “We cannot merely claim our share,” he says. “We must contribute to the global economy by supplying world-class talent.”
Building on government progress
Federal and provincial authorities have started initiatives on IT parks, low-cost broadband schemes, and satellite internet, and industry leaders say that expanding their reach and accelerating their rollout could unlock faster export growth.
FACT BOX | Accelerating IT growth – three key initiatives
Subsidised IT parks & tier-III/IV data centres
Why it matters: Lowers capital barriers and satisfies foreign-client certification demands.
Next step: Expand beyond major cities; introduce a one-window clearance process.
Affordable, high-uptime internet
Why it matters: Every minute of downtime stalls billing, support and service delivery.
Next step: Tougher SLAs with ISPs; incentives for redundant fibre in tech clusters.
Satellite-internet licensing (e.g. Starlink)
Why it matters: Brings enterprise-grade connectivity to remote hubs and second-tier cities.
Next step: Finalise spectrum fees and local PoP rules; launch pilot zones quickly.
“Government momentum is encouraging,” Shahzad Arif notes. “A few well-timed accelerators can turn today’s pilots into tomorrow’s export engine.”
Next-wave enablers
Shahzad Arif also urges:
International payment gateways to bolster client confidence and speed remittances.
Deeper rural reach for existing support programmes that currently stop at big cities.
Lower import duties on specialised hardware, which squeeze start-ups and mid-tier firms.
Macro tailwinds
Recent reforms are already helping. The central bank now lets exporters keep up to 50 per cent of revenue in foreign-currency accounts, and the rupee’s relative stability has prompted higher profit repatriation. A draft national AI strategy targeting talent pipelines and ethics is also in the works.
Outlook
The government of Pakistan has outlined an ambitious plan to significantly expand the country’s information technology (IT) export sector. In January 2025, the Prime Minister unveiled a comprehensive roadmap aiming to boost annual IT exports to an impressive US $25 billion within the next five years. This target, if achieved, would mark a transformative shift in Pakistan’s economic landscape, positioning the IT sector as a major contributor to national exports.
This goal is a central pillar of the government’s “Uraan Pakistan” initiative, a wide-ranging digital and economic modernization strategy aimed at enhancing technological capabilities, attracting foreign investment, and creating high-skilled employment opportunities for the country’s youth. Under this initiative, a combination of regulatory reforms, tax incentives, training programs, and infrastructure investments are being rolled out to support local tech firms and startups in scaling their operations and reaching global markets.
Industry analysts monitoring the Uraan Pakistan strategy suggest that even under a more modest growth scenario, the IT export sector is likely to expand significantly. Projections indicate that, at a conservative pace, annual IT exports could rise to around US $10 billion by 2029 – a figure that would more than triple the sector’s current export value, estimated at approximately US $3 billion.
Achieving even the lower benchmark would be a major accomplishment, as it would bring IT exports within striking distance of Pakistan’s traditionally dominant textile industry. For context, textile shipments – long the mainstay of Pakistan’s export economy – reached US $14.8 billion during the ten-month period from July 2024 to April 2025.
Closing the gap between IT and textile exports would not only diversify the country’s economic base but also provide greater resilience against global commodity fluctuations. Moreover, it would signal Pakistan’s emergence as a competitive player in the global digital economy, driven by a young and increasingly tech-savvy population.
“Our demographic dividend won’t last forever,” Shahzad Arif warns. “Forward-looking policies must turn today’s momentum into sustained export power.”
