All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) foresees massive boost to IT industry from CPEC
Lahore: March 26, 2018 – The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a transnational project which promises faster growth and infrastructural development of the whole region. It will effectively serve the long-term economic interests of both the countries. As the All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) is a vibrant business association which promotes and protects the interests of the business community and industries in Pakistan, the association is pleased to see the big opportunities promised by CPEC, therefore it would urge the government to ensure that all provinces benefit equitably from this revolutionary project. Pakistan’s domestic Information Technology (IT) market is expected to witness growth due to China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Projects.
The President of APBF – Mr. Ibrahim Qureshi said that; “We appreciate China’s robust investment plans and trans-national initiative for boosting cross-border trade activities. With large foreign investment coming in the country, it is essential that all provinces get equitable benefits, opportunities and budgets for strengthening their infrastructure and trade activities along-with IT, CPEC inspires new opportunities to set up projects that will give a boost to this vital sector.”
In terms of the current scheme CPEC will include construction of cross – border OFC (optical fiber) system between China and Pakistan for international connectivity of voice/data traffic and provision of seamless GSM coverage along KKH for the proposed Gawadar – Kashighar Economic Corridor in Gilgit Baltistan. The CPEC initiative includes the building of roads, ports, dams, connecting cities, and serving those areas without coverage. This will provide a much needed improvement to the economy which will also bring benefits to the IT industry. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is part of China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) project, is bringing in US$46 billion in investments, and this has created more business opportunities for the local IT and telecom industry. Pakistan itself represents a major potential for people centric mobile based applications and products which are fully prepared for the next level of development with state-of-the-art connectivity structure with fixed & mobile networks that have a teledensity of more than 71% which is also increasing on a monthly basis.
The government is making all possible efforts to improve exports of Pakistan’s IT sector and has extended major incentives to the IT Industry which include a variety of tax exemptions, permission to operate foreign exchange accounts, profit repatriation. The government is also paying attention to the capacity building of the IT sector which includes, among others, International certification programs, internship placements.
The success of this initiative relies on stronger collaboration and cooperation among business communities of all provinces and across borders. APBF is committed to dedicate all available resources and capabilities, to engage vital organizations and entrepreneurs in the region, to create robust links, new opportunities and mutual benefits, for all of the provinces in Pakistan.
APBF is a vibrant business association which promotes and protects the interests of the business community and industries in Pakistan. It also advises the government on; policy formulation, regulatory realignments, economic reforms and implementation.
