PM for inclusion of mega incentives for IT sector in budget

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed the relevant authorities to include mega incentives for the Information Technology sector in the fiscal budget 2023-24 to boost country’s IT export.
Chairing a high-level meeting on promotion of the IT sector, the prime minister directed to prepare a big package for the IT sector in the upcoming fiscal budget.
The prime minister decided to introduce fixed tax regime for the IT sector in the budget and also constituted a committee on it, besides directing the body to submit its recommendations immediately, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
The meeting also accorded approval in principle for providing special incentives to new business start-ups in the IT sector.
Special concessions for promotion of business and trade through modern technology were also approved.
During the meeting, it was also decided to take the initiatives that were crucial to encourage youth for starting their own businesses.
The prime minister approved a major decision of creating special training IT zones for promotion of entrepreneurship.
The prime minister said that the government would spend huge amount on the training of youth in IT sector. Currently, a total of 45,000 young people across the country were being trained in the IT sector, he added.
The prime minister further said that in the upcoming fiscal budget, the government would distribute 1,00,000 laptops among the youth on merit basis.
During the previous tenure of the PML-N government, they had distributed laptops among the country’s youth and by utilizing this facility, the young people supplemented the foreign reserves during the Covid pandemic, he observed.
The prime minister further set a target for the IT sector to increase its export up to the tune of $4.5 billion for the next year.- APP