ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s IT exports hit $286 million in the first month of the current fiscal year which started July 1, state-run Radio Pakistan reported, with IT sector exports likely to exceed $3.5 billion this year.
Pakistan recorded $298 million in IT exports in June, up 33 percent from the year before. During the fiscal year that ended in June, IT exports were worth $3.2 billion, up 24 percent from $2.5 billion in the fiscal year 2023.
The government has said Pakistani IT exports were expected to rise after authorities allowed a retention limit from 35 percent to 50 percent in the Exporters’ Specialized Foreign Currency Accounts.
“The IT sector accounted for 46 percent of the total exports in the first month of the financial year,” Radio Pakistan reported, saying the increase in IT exports was due to an increase in the special foreign currency account limit for exporters and the stabilization of the Pakistani rupee.
“Exports of the IT sector are likely to exceed 3.5 billion dollars during this fiscal year,” Radio Pakistan added.
Government optimism about the prospects of the IT sector come as associations and businesses have expressed alarm over slowing Internet speeds this month as the federal government moves to implement a nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow the government to identify IP addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda.”
IT Minister Shaza Khawaja has repeatedly said the government did not plan to use firewalls as a form of censorship.
Last week, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.” Separately, the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) said in a press release last Thursday Pakistan’s economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions caused by the imposition of the firewall.
Amid ‘slow’ Internet controversy, Pakistan says IT exports to exceed $3.5 billion this year
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Amid ‘slow’ Internet controversy, Pakistan says IT exports to exceed $3.5 billion this year
- Pakistan Business Council says Internet disruptions, low speeds leading MNCs to consider relocating out of Pakistan
- Pakistan Software Houses Association says economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions caused firewall
Gunmen kill 3 Revolutionary Guards in Iranian province bordering Pakistan
- Iranian state media says attackers ambushed patrol in Sistan and Baluchistan province before fleeing
- Border region with Pakistan and Afghanistan has long seen militant and smuggling-related violence
TEHRAN: Gunmen killed three members of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan near the Pakistan border, state media reported.
The Guard members were ambushed while patrolling near the city of Lar in a mountainous area about 1,125 kilometers (700 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA did not report whether any Guard members were injured in the attack.
The Revolutionary Guard is pursing the attackers it calls “terrorists,” but they remain at large. No group has taken responsibility for the attack, IRNA reported.
The province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, one of the least developed in Iran, has been the site of occasional deadly clashes involving militant groups, armed drug smugglers and Iranian security forces.
In August, Iran’s security forces killed 13 militants in three separate operations in the province a week after the group killed five policemen who were on patrol.
