Indonesia-Pakistan Collaboration in Digital Economy

On Monday, experts disclosed that Indonesia had developed seven ventures – six unicorns and a decacorn – the greatest number in the area during a webcast titled “Indonesia-Pakistan IT Update: The Development and Challenges,” sponsored by the Indonesian Consulate General.

At the teleconference, Pakistan Software Houses Association (PSHA) Chairman Badar Khushnood stated, “Pakistan has a lot more to learn from Indonesia, but both can cooperate because Pakistan has its own assets to contribute.”

Dr. June Kuncoro Hadiningrat, Indonesia Consul General in Karachi, stated that the consular had several talks with industrial organizations in Sindh, which recognised information technology as a viable field for improving bilateral commercial cooperation.

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Indonesia-Pakistan Collaboration in Digital Economy

Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, the IT sector had had unprecedented double-digit growth, he added, that Pakistan’s IT sector increased by more than 14%, while Indonesia’s rose by more than 11%.

According to him, the sector employed a reasonably big number of experts, with Pakistan employing over 500,000 experts and Indonesia employing over 894,000. “Pakistan is the home of the world’s fourth biggest IT freelancing sector, with customers in the United States, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East,” he stated. Meanwhile, Indonesia served as a centre for numerous unicorns that were linked to shareholders in Asia, including China, Japan, and the United States.

“The input of the IT industry to the country’s economy is still quite low,” he added, adding that it was 1% in Pakistan (estimated at $2.6 billion) and 3.5 percent in Indonesia (estimated at $39.1 billion), as pegged by the World Bank as per 2019 data.

Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) Managing Director Osman Nasir said that over the past three years Pakistan had witnessed a rapid growth in the IT sector. “Demand has never been a challenge for us, but supply is a big issue,” he said.

According to Osman Nasir, Managing Director of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), Pakistan has seen remarkable growth in the IT sector during the last three years. “Demand has never been an issue for us, but supply is a major concern,” he explained.

According to him, Pakistan produces around 25,000 IT graduates every year, but the demand is for 60,000 to 70,000 specialists. “As a result, we began collaborating with a university and created an associate degree.”

Another problem for the IT business is obtaining funding. “We are working with various firms to have them listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, which would ease their liquidity problem,” he added.

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