����ֱ��

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded its highest ever monthly IT exports of $366 million in September, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said on Monday, with a top brokerage firm attributing the surge to local companies growing their clientele abroad and the national currency gaining stability. 

According to the IT ministry, Pakistan’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) export remittances increased by $180 million to $1,057 million during July-September. Pakistan recorded total IT exports of $877 million during the same corresponding period last year.

Pakistan has sought to attract global investments in its priority sectors, notably IT, in recent years, to ward off its prolonged economic crisis. Several Pakistani companies have expanded their footprint abroad and sought cooperation with their counterparts in other countries, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. 

“Country’s IT/tech exports have hit an all-time monthly high of $366 million in Sep-25,” Schehzad wrote on social media platform X. 

The IT ministry confirmed the development, stating that this was a 25.3 percent increase from $292 million IT exports recorded by Pakistan in September 2024. 

Karachi-based brokerage firm Topline Securities said in its latest report that the monthly IT exports are higher than the last 12-month average of $326 million recorded by Pakistan.

The firm said that this takes Pakistan’s IT exports during the first quarter of the current fiscal year to $1.06 billion, registering an increase of 21 percent year-on-year (YoY). 

“YoY growth in IT exports during the month is due to (1) IT export companies growing client base globally, especially in the GCC region, (2) relaxation in the permissible retention limit by the State Bank of Pakistan, increasing it from 35 percent to 50 percent in the Exporters’ Specialized Foreign Currency Accounts, (3) allowance of equity investment abroad through these foreign currency accounts and (4) stability in PKR encouraging IT exporters to bring higher portion of profits back to Pakistan,” Topline Securities said. 

According to a Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) survey, 62 percent of IT companies are maintaining specialized foreign currency accounts.

A major development in FY25 was the state bank adding a new category of Equity Investment Abroad (EIA), specifically for export-oriented IT companies. IT exporters can now acquire interest (shareholding) in entities abroad utilizing up to 50 percent proceeds from specialized foreign currency accounts. 

The firm said that while the government has set a target of $5 billion for IT exports for fiscal year 2026, it expects IT exports to grow by 18-20 percent during the year.

ISLAMABAD: Representatives from nearly 10 countries including ����ֱ��, Iran, Maldives, Turkiye, Belarus and others will attend a Regional Connectivity Conference in Islamabad later this week, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Monday. 

The conference is scheduled to be held in Pakistan’s capital from Oct. 23-24. Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema chaired a high-level meeting in Islamabad on Monday to review preparations for the meeting. 

Participants of the meeting also focused on strategies to enhance regional trade through improved connectivity, with a particular emphasis on boosting the capacity of regional trade corridors, the economic affairs ministry said in a statement. 

“Representatives from nearly 10 countries, including Turkiye, ����ֱ��, Iran, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Belarus and others will participate in this conference,” the statement said. 

Cheema said Pakistan was proud that this conference will be held in Islamabad for the first time, with “high officials from important countries” in attendance. 

During the meeting, officials from several ministries provided detailed briefings to participants on regional connectivity initiatives, outlining measures to strengthen trade corridors and improve infrastructure for regional trade. 

Cheema emphasized that Pakistan is committed to enhancing regional connectivity through both rail and road networks.

“He expressed optimism that important Memorandums of Understanding would be signed at the upcoming Regional Connectivity Conference, which would serve as milestones for regional connectivity and economic integration,” the statement added. 

Pakistan’s foreign policy has already undergone a major shift from geopolitics to geo-economics in recent years, with the country striving for greater regional connectivity to promote trade and people-to-people contacts.

It has signed MoUs with Central Asian Republics and other regional allies to promote air, road and sea trade. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has repeatedly said Islamabad now seeks “mutually beneficial partnerships” with allies rather than loans.