Total tech startup turnover in the last fiscal year was $3 billion," notes ambassador
Friday, November 03, 2023
Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, said the South Asian nation was not behind in the technological revolution, stressing that Islamabad had opened new doors for foreign investment in IT, energy, agriculture, mining and defense manufacturing.
Speaking during a two-day conference on 'Resilience and Reform in Pakistan' organized by think tank South Asia Centre, the ambassador said that technology startups in Pakistan are experiencing a dramatic rise.
From a paltry $10 million in venture capital funding in 2018, global venture capital firms and other investors are now pouring in $1 billion a year, a seasoned diplomat told event attendees.
"The total turnover of tech startups in the last fiscal year was $3 billion, while e-commerce in Pakistan generated about $6 billion."
"This is just the beginning. Pakistan is not left behind in the technological revolution that has taken off in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The gap is now narrowing. Pakistan is catching up," he noted.
He attributed the change to the digitization of the economy, e-commerce and better supply chains, noting that tech startups have been particularly successful in fintech, retail, pharma, diagnostics, telemedicine, education, food and transportation.
"We strongly pursue institutional reforms for macroeconomic stability, social development, fiscal discipline, absorption of external shocks and improvement of the business climate," the ambassador said.
He noted that Pakistan is also streamlining its tax system to make it broad and fair to finance human development, infrastructure development and climate resilience.
"The overarching reforms aim to unlock ease of doing business, enforce intellectual property rights, ensure stable payment cycles and accelerate capital formation," he said.
"We will stay the course," the ambassador predicted.
