To boost Pakistan’s information technology (IT)-related exports, the government is in talks to bring a global payment partner like PayPal into the country.
This was disclosed during the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce on Monday. The meeting of the committee was held in Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Zeeshan Khanzada.
During the meeting, members were briefed about the country’s first National E-Commerce Council.
The committee was informed that Pakistan is the 37th largest e-commerce market in the world and is still growing rapidly.
The committee members stressed on maintaining the quality of online services and e-commerce so that it can gain public confidence and realize its true potential.
Senator Tareen made the startling claim that Pakistani freelancers have parked around $3-4 billion offshore due to high taxes locally.
To reverse this trend, the former finance minister proposed that the government offer a 10-year tax holiday to freelancers. Further, he demanded the authorities concerned to allow freelancers to open 100% foreign currency accounts so that they can receive and remit payments freely.
On this occasion, Senate Deputy Chairman Mirza Muhammad Afridi remarked that it is important to bring global payment platforms like PayPal to Pakistan to increase Pakistan’s IT exports.
Government officials told Senator Afridi that they have held talks with PayPal and other similar payment gateways to bring them to Pakistan.
“We are trying to launch this service in Pakistan as soon as possible,” he said, adding that currently payments are made through another payment gateway linked to PayPal on marketplaces such as Amazon. Is.
Senator Abdul Qadir appreciated the role of e-commerce in eliminating the role of middlemen and called for the adoption of this platform to reduce complications in the agricultural sector.
He said that this will give better price to our farmers and cheap commodities will also be available to our people.
Sectoral Council
The meeting also discussed the 10 sectoral councils set up by the government to enhance trust between the government and the industry to improve the business environment.
The meeting was informed that the councils consist of representatives of the private sector, government sector and trade associations and are advisory in nature. Officials added that efforts have been made to make all relevant manufacturers and stakeholders part of the council.
The chairman of the committee said that sector-specific strategies should be adopted in consultation with the private sector while ensuring the representation of all provinces in these councils.
During the meeting, Tareen complained about the behavior of banks while giving loans to the business community from small provinces and urged that the matter be taken up with the State Bank of Pakistan and the Ministry of Finance.
Forced Sale of Fish
Senator Danish Kumar apprised the committee about fishing smuggling in Balochistan.
In the proposed declarations, they claimed that fishermen are forced to sell their catch to large international trawlers due to lack of necessary storage and technology available locally.
He said that if all these facilities are provided in Gwadar and adjoining areas, trade can be improved through legal means.
The chairman of the committee directed that information be obtained from the relevant departments of the provincial government on this matter and presented before the committee so that a policy can be made in this regard.
Senator Afridi urged that the ban on the import of cattle from Afghanistan be lifted.
Senator Khanzada directed the relevant officials of the Ministry of Commerce to complete the assessment of the damage caused to the food sector by the floods and the related food security impact so that timely action can be taken to import essential commodities, especially cotton. The economy may suffer. The future of Pakistan’s textile industry
The report of the sub-committee on import of gold was also presented in the committee. However, it was decided to review the report in the next meeting of the committee.
