Federal Minister for IT & Telecom Syed Amin-Ul-Haque has said that a $355 million investment was made under the Start-ups echo system in the year 2022. To facilitate the startup ecosystem, we have drafted policy recommendations for State Bank, SECP, FBR, and Intellectual property Organizations.
These recommendations will ease up the regulatory processes for the startup ecosystem. Ignite is also developing a startup portal which will help investors to review startups under different sectors or thematic areas. And eventually, this will help investors do their shopping. Secondly, startups can also interact with investors and pitch their proposals through that portal. So it’s a business matchmaking portal which will help startups and investors to build a relationship.
He was addressing the Investment Conference as Chief Guest in a local Hotel organized by USAID and OPEN Silicon Valley. The conference’s primary focus was to discuss the global investment climate, as well as the challenges and opportunities present in Pakistan’s investment landscape and how we as foreign investors, can increase investment in Pakistan. The Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN) is a network of thousands of Pakistani entrepreneurs and professionals all around the world, working and leading some of the most innovative companies of our time. OPEN Charter members have a net worth of over $2 billion and have had exits of more than $12 billion.
Federal IT Minister appreciated the efforts made by Mr. Junaid Qureshi of OPEN Silicon Valley and USAID in doing a roadshow around Pakistan to promote US investment in Pakistan. He welcomes entrepreneurs and business people to Pakistan from the US to bring their investments. He said the Ministry of IT & Telecom efforts in the last four years made Pakistan a Paradise of Investment in the IT & Telecom Sector.
“On my recommendation Government of Pakistan offered various facilities and relief to both the Industry, recently, Finance Minister officially announced to resolve the main issues faced by the IT Industry regarding 35% repatriation of the Foreign Exchange and set up FBR special Desk in Islamabad, Karachi & Lahore”, IT Minister added.
He said Eight incubation centres of ignite have created an entrepreneurial vibe in the country which is helping in establishing new startups in almost every sector. The start-ups of the National Incubation Centers established in the country, received an investment of $20 million from various sources last year.
Syed Amin-Ul-Haque said under the National Freelance Training Program initiated and funded by the Ministry of IT, 20 training centres were established across the country. 8,647 graduates were trained through International standard IT courses, and these students contributed to the country’s economy by earning $23 million through freelancing after training. During the year 2022, 1638 new IT companies got registered with Pakistan Software Export Board, while 761 call centres and 1463 freelancers were also registered with the PSEB.
We are also establishing specialized incubation centres in agriculture & textile, aerospace technologies and gaming & animation to create more businesses in these areas and boost exports. For the provision of early-stage investment, ignite is starting an accelerator program so that early-age startups can sustain their businesses. Ignite is collaborating with international partners like Plug & Play, orbit, DMZ, 500 global and hub 71 so that the local startup ecosystem can be exposed to international investors.
Amin said that 33 Million People have registered for freelancing courses under the DG Skills Programs of Ignite, which is 75% more than the target. By June 2022, freelancers trained with DG Skills have earned a whopping $290 million, adding to the country’s foreign exchange reserve.
The Conference was attended by Chief Secretary Sindh Dr. Suhail Rajput, US Counsel General Mr. Nichole Theriot, CEO Ignite Mr. Asim Shehryar, Ms. Jehan Ara of Katalyst Lab, Mr. Junaid Qureshi OPEN Silicon Valley, Dr. Farah Essa and prominent Personalities from Pak-US IT Industries.
