ISLAMABAD: Several national and international information technology (IT) companies on Saturday signed business contracts of over $50 million at a three-day exhibition in Islamabad, said the organizers of the event while hoping the multinational corporations would build a good working partnership with local firms.

The Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan organized the 22nd ITCN Asia, an information technology and telecom show, in Islamabad wherein over 200 national and international companies from China, Australia and the United Kingdom participated to display their products, build partnerships and promote the digitalization in the South Asian country.

Pakistan has been trying to increase IT exports to get more remittances to support the fragile national economy. The country has set a target of $4 billion IT exports this year and wants to achieve it by offering incentives to the local companies and freelancers.

“Different national and international companies that gathered at our platform have signed business contracts of over $50 million, and this will definitely help our IT industry to grow further and bring in more revenue from abroad,” Umair Nizam, vice-president ITCN Asia, told Arab News.

Several government institutes, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), National Information Technology Board (NITB), Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and National Center for Cyber Security, also participated in the event. The private firms offering solutions to cloud storage, education, health, education and artificial intelligence also exhibited their products.

“Our purpose is to bring different tech ecosystems under one platform for digital transformation, knowledge sharing and build business partnerships with each other to boost the industry,” Nizam said.

“In the next phase, we will take our exhibition to the Middle East as well to collaborate with IT firms in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries,” he continued.

At present, around 650,000 individuals in Pakistan are working as freelancers or for different IT companies to sell their solutions and services in the global market. They collectively bring in around $2.5 billion in remittances from abroad, according to the information technology ministry.

“This is the most vibrant, organized and positive industry,” Nizam said. “So, we can achieve a sharp growth in it in the shortest possible time if the government provides incentives to skilled workers and companies.”

He urged the government to declare IT a tax-free industry and provide special incentives to individuals and companies to set up their businesses in special technology zones.

There are about 186,000 IT companies currently registered with the SECP since individuals and businesses can now enlist themselves digitally with the authority in three to four hours from the comfort of their homes, said Tariq Bashir who is a deputy-director at the SECP.

“Once a company is registered with the SECP, it can enjoy all the incentives including bank loans, private and public business contracts and tax exemptions,” he told Arab News.