LAHORE (Daily Point) — The government has addressed the longstanding demand of freelancers by facilitating the routing of remittances through the international gateway, PayPal, according to Caretaker Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Dr. Umar Saif.
Dr. Saif revealed this development while speaking to journalists, stating that the Ministry of IT is set to launch various digital initiatives next week, including the channelization of remittances through PayPal, aiming to position Pakistan as a ‘Tech Destination.’ Currently, there is no dedicated financial instrument to facilitate such payments.
The minister clarified that although PayPal is not directly entering Pakistan, an agreement has been reached to channelize remittances from PayPal through a third party. The formal launch ceremony is scheduled for January 11.
Highlighting government initiatives to boost exports in the IT and telecom sector, Dr. Saif mentioned that while the sector’s official export is $2.6 billion, the actual figure is around $5 billion. He explained that a significant portion is parked outside the country to cover salaries of international employees, monthly expenses for cloud hosting, and marketing and sales on platforms like Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, etc.
In collaboration with the SIFC and the State Bank, the government has implemented a policy intervention allowing IT companies to retain 50 percent of their export revenue in dollars in a Pakistan-based account, enabling them to make international expenses without restrictions. Dr. Saif noted that this policy has resulted in IT companies repatriating their dollars, leading to a 13 percent increase in export revenue in just one month.
