PM Approves Plan to Bring PayPal and Stripe to Pakistan, Confirmed by Dr. Umar Saif. Pakistan’s Minister for Information Technology in the interim government has officially confirmed the government’s commitment to bringing PayPal and Stripe to Pakistan.
Furthermore, the government plans to establish co-working spaces tailored for freelancers, signaling a significant move to boost the country’s digital economy.
This announcement followed a meeting between Dr. Saif and Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, where they approved a comprehensive project aimed at boosting the IT industry.
Dr. Saif emphasized the IT sector’s potential for exports, which could reach $10 billion with the right solutions to existing challenges. The Prime Minister instructed various government bodies, including finance, commerce, energy, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), to collaborate on this initiative.
PayPal And Strip is in Need of Pakistan Freelancers
The IT Minister highlighted the critical role the IT sector will play in achieving economic stability through project cooperation and emphasized efforts to enhance the quality of services by providing training to young individuals.
Furthermore, the government plans to train 200,000 IT professionals through collaboration between industry and academia, aiming to increase IT exports by $5 billion.
With over 600,000 Pakistanis actively exporting their IT services worldwide, mainly through freelance work and various tech platforms, the country accumulates a substantial $250 million in monthly export remittances within the South Asian region.
Nevertheless, despite this flourishing trend in IT exports, freelancers are grappling with payment hurdles. This is primarily due to the unavailability of online payment giants like PayPal and Stripe in Pakistan.
The plan includes initiatives to bring PayPal and Stripe to Pakistan, along with the establishment of co-working spaces intended to accommodate 500,000 freelancers. This move aims to increase their collective potential to contribute an additional $3 billion annually to the economy.
