Amid ‘slow’ Internet controversy, Pakistan says IT exports to exceed $3.5 billion this year

A food delivery man uses his mobile phone near a restaurant in Islamabad on August 17, 2024. (AFP)

• 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

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.