Caretaker Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Dr Umar Saif said that IT exports in January witnessed an increase of 39.4 per cent to $265 million compared to $190 million in the same month of the last fiscal year. “Pakistan’s IT industry continues to grow and sets new records. IT exports in January are up by 39.4 per cent to $265 million, compared to $190 million in the same month in 2023,” the minister posted on X. Additionally, the minister disclosed that IT exports during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (July-January) reached $1.7 billion, marking a 13 per cent increase from $1.5 billion in the corresponding period of the last year. During the months under review, the export of computer services grew by 10.32 per cent as it surged from US $1,064.579 million last year to US $1,174.481 million during July-December 2023-24.

Among the computer services, the exports of software consultancy services witnessed a nominal decrease of 180 per cent, from US $3.394 million to US $3.333 million this year while the export of hardware consultancy services surged by 3.401 per cent, from US $391.570 million to US $404.875 million. The export of repair and maintenance services however decreased by 39.15 per cent from US $1.530 million to US $0.930 million whereas the export and imports of computer software services surged by 2.79 per cent, from $302.376 million to $310.807 million. Meanwhile, the export of information services during the months under review dipped by 19.72 per cent from US $2.180 million to US $1.750 million. Among the information services, the exports of information-related services increased by 3.64 per cent, from US $0.687 million to US $0.712 million whereas the exports of news agency services however decreased by 30.48 per cent, from US $1.493 million to US $1.038 million.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)