KARACHI: Officials of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) on Thursday expressed “profound apprehensions” about Pakistan’s national budget announced a day earlier, saying the IT Industry’s proposals had been “completely overlooked” and demanding amendments to the finance bill.
Pakistan’s IT sector continued its growth momentum in April this year, marking another all-time high record of $310 million in inflows. Central bank data shows the country achieved 62 percent year-on-year growth in the sector. During the 10 months of the current fiscal year (10MFY24), IT exports clocked in at $2.59 billion, up by 21 percent annual basis as compared to $2.14 billion recorded in 10MFY23.
Pakistani IT exports are expected to rise to above $3.5 billion after the caretaker government allowed a retention limit from 35 percent to 50 percent in the Exporters’ Specialized Foreign Currency Accounts.
Against this background, Ali Ihsan, senior vice chairman of P@SHA, said the government had signed the “death warrant” of the IT industry with the new budget.
“The government should have been aware that the last savior of Pakistan’s economy is the IT industry,” Ihsan said, “be it exports, current account management, employment generation or foreign direct investment.”
Muhammad Zohaib Khan, the chairman of P@SHA, said the IT industry was already facing a dearth of skilled and highly-skilled workforce:
“The government should have given a special package to the human resource pool to enable IT companies to continue with the momentum of double-digit growth in IT exports.”
He said higher income taxes on the salaried class included in the budget would “further fuel the brain drain of the skilled workforce from the IT industry of Pakistan,” adding that an allocation of Rs79 billion ($282.8 million) was primarily for the government’s own projects and IT parks while the industry as a whole and IT companies had been neglected.
“The situation was already alarming vis-à-vis taxes and human resource availability and P@SHA has, time and again, duly presented the facts and relevant proposals to the government,” Khan added.
On taxation measures, the P@SHA chief emphasized that the burden on IT companies was further compounded by the failure to address the challenges posed by the remote worker tax regime.
“Ironically, instead of removing the anomalies in current tax laws, additional taxes have been levied on imports of equipment and GST on hardware has been counterproductively enhanced from 5 percent to 10 percent,” Khan said.
He said the budget “directly” contradicted the Ministry of IT and Telecom’s claims of supporting the industry for investments and exports, demanding “necessary amendments” in the finance bill to ensure that Pakistan’s IT sector continued on its “spectacular growth trajectory.”
Pakistan’s top IT body says government signed ‘death warrant’ of industry with budget 2024-25
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Pakistan’s top IT body says government signed ‘death warrant’ of industry with budget 2024-25
- Pakistan’s IT sector continued growth momentum in April marking another all-time high of $310 million inflows
- Chairman of P@SHA says IT industry was already facing a dearth of skilled and highly-skilled workforce
Pakistan to launch AI screening in January to target fake visas, agent networks
- New system to flag forged-document travelers before boarding and pre-verify eligibility
- Move comes amid increasing concern over fake visas, fraudulent agents, forged papers
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will roll out an AI-based immigration screening system in Islamabad from January to detect forged documents and prevent illegal overseas travel, the government said on Thursday.
The move comes amid increasing concern over fake visas, fraudulent agents and forged papers, with officials warning that such activity has contributed to deportations, human smuggling and reputational damage abroad. Pakistan has also faced scrutiny over irregular migration flows and labor-market vulnerability, particularly in the Gulf region, prompting calls for more reliable pre-departure checks and digital verification.
The reforms include plans to make the protector-stamp system — the clearance required for Pakistani citizens seeking overseas employment — “foolproof”, tighten labor-visa documentation, and cancel the passports of deportees to prevent them from securing visas again. The government has sought final recommendations within seven days, signalling a rapid enforcement timeline.
“To stop illegal immigration, an AI-based app pilot project is being launched in Islamabad from January,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said following a high-level meeting chaired by him and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik Hussain.
Naqvi said the new screening technology is intended to determine travelers’ eligibility in advance, reducing airport off-loads and closing loopholes exploited by traffickers and unregistered agents.
The interior minister added that Pakistan remains in contact with foreign governments to improve the global perception and ranking of the green passport, while a uniform international driving license will be issued through the National Police Bureau.
The meeting also approved zero-tolerance measures against fraudulent visa brokers, while the Overseas Pakistanis Ministry pledged full cooperation to streamline the emigration workflow. Minister Hussain said transparency in the protector process has become a “basic requirement,” particularly for labor-migration cases.
Pakistan’s current immigration system has long struggled with document fraud, with repeated cases of passengers grounded at airports due to forged papers or agent-facilitated travel. The launch of an AI screening layer, if implemented effectively, could shift the burden from manual counters to pre-flight verification, allowing authorities to identify risk profiles before departure rather than after arrival abroad.
The reforms also come at a moment when labor mobility is tightening globally. Gulf states have begun demanding greater documentation assurance for imported labor, while European and Asian destinations have increased scrutiny following trafficking arrests and irregular-entry routes from South Asia. For Pakistan, preventing fraudulent departures is increasingly linked to protecting genuine workers, reducing deportation cycles and stabilizing the country’s overseas employment footprint.
