As a matter of fact, the new generation of Pakistan has shown the best skills in this field.  According to recent reports, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has expanded the technical infrastructure of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He has expressed the need for millions of Pakistani skilled workers related to information technology.  Regarding the visits to Riyadh and Doha, he told the Federal Cabinet that both the Gulf states expressed keen interest in cooperation with Pakistan in IT, while fruitful discussions were also held on possible partnerships in solar energy, mining and minerals. And the Prime Minister will soon visit Saudi Arabia again with Pakistani experts.

He further said that the Qatar Investment Authority, which is determined to invest three billion dollars, will send a team to Pakistan in the same month. The Emir of Qatar has opened an IT park in Pakistan. The project has also been announced which will further strengthen bilateral technical ties.  This willingness of friendly countries to invest in the country is a reflection of the fact that the uncertainty they were suffering from regarding Pakistan due to political chaos and instability in the past years has now ended.

 He is now fully confident about the continuity of the country's current set-up and policies and is taking fruitful steps for practical cooperation in various sectors within Pakistan apart from massive utilization of our manpower.  After severe economic crisis and political uncertainty, this satisfactory situation is certainly a commendable result of the joint efforts of the current political and military leadership, but the challenge of terrorism still exists and all possible measures are being taken to pave the way for uninterrupted foreign investment.  It is necessary to deal with this challenge successfully by adopting measures. As a matter of fact, the IT sector is very important because there are unlimited opportunities to send our  IT professional abroad, especially to the Gulf states and also increase exports in this sector and it does not require much investment like other productive sectors.  It is good to see that in recent years, the exports of our IT sector have increased substntially and have been almost doubled.

But the irony is  that there is lack of continuity in the growth rate during the same period. The main cause  for this is the existing global economic environment and the inept policies of our successive governments, which have a direct bearing on the sector.  In today's modern era, it is strongly felt that the IT sector should be given the status of a regular industry and the environment required for it should be improved.  Experts say that all necessary legal and policy measures should be taken to increase investment and exports in the IT sector and to make the youth professional in order to take full advantage of the potential of this sector.  And work on technical training projects should be accelerated. The caretaker government had made a lot of progress in this sector which was brought to the notice of the Prime Minister.

 A memorandum of understanding was also signed with Saudi Arabia last year. Exports of the IT sector have doubled, but the data also shows that the growth rate of the sector has not continued, which is mainly due to government policies that restrict the work of IT companies and freelancers. and directly affect the environment and finances.  If the problems faced by the IT sector in the country are solved, its exports can be taken up to 15 to 20 billion dollars annually. Significant progress can be made towards making them economically independent. Financial experts say that the IT sector is of great importance as there are unlimited opportunities to increase exports in this sector but they say that it requires a huge investment on the line of the textile industry which is the backbone of our economy.  It is worth-mentioning here that our IT companies and freelancers have proved thier worth thorugh their good skills globally without much government support or assistance. However, now the need is being strongly felt to improve the  environment required for this very important sector and that can be attached by giving the status of full industry like the cotton or other manufacturing sectors. The positive thing in this regard is that we are aware of the potential of this sector and is also  aware of the problems faced by this sector, so a comprehensive efforts on the part of the Govt can  get bring about a good change in the IT sector.  It may be recalled here that the previous caretaker Government signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia, which paved the way for foreign investment in this very important IT companies in the country.  The MoU was much appreciated by the experts of this sector as it is aimed to promote research and innovation through joint efforts, ventures, training programs and establishment of innovation centers of excellence and also separate branches for advanced technologies at the university level to guide and help the youth who are interested in the IT field. 

The accord was  aimed at improving the digital infrastructure of the two country through expansion of their respective fiber optic networks, data and research units and also cloud computing connectivity. It has definitely opened opportunities for cooperation and assistance in the e-governance sector, and what we may call the smart infrastructure, e-health, e-education and emerging technologies like the AI, robotics, blockchain, and cloud computing etc. Last year, the then Caretaker Govt also took an important decisoin by  announcing that the exam of the 75 thousand IT graduates who pass every year in the country  will be taken through a centralized examination by the Higher Education Commission.

In this process, the successful candidates will also be provided jobs after the internship and they can also work abroad, especially in the Gulf states.