Pakistan Business Council Advises Next Govt To Cut Telecom Taxation
According to the latest reports, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) recently advised that the incoming Pakistani government should lower the taxation on all facets of connectivity. Moreover, the govt should remove barriers to further improve investment in the telecom industry. While discussing the Agenda for the Incoming Government, PBC highlighted that Pakistan needs to reposition itself in the global economy where cheap labor will not be an endurable competitive advantage.
Pakistan Business Council Directs Next Govt To Reduce Telecom Taxation & Facilitate Investment
Some of the key building blocks for future-proofing are mentioned down below:
- Stronger education foundation, starting with the school curriculum in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
- Boost higher education in technology along the model of the Indian Institute of Technology
- Facilitate nationwide e-connectivity through affordable high-speed internet to facilitate e-commerce, digital banking, e-schooling, software development, and IT-enabled services
- Recede the incidence of taxation on all facets of connectivity and remove hindrances to improve investment in telecommunications
- Establish IT parks to gather IT talent and develop specialization streams
- Automate manufacturing through artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things
- Invest in innovation particularly in medical/ diagnostic devices and agriculture to manage healthcare and food security
- Create bridges between Defence and Civilian technology and between business and academia in research, focused mainly on import substitution and exports
- Public-private venture capital funds focused on funding digital innovation
- Generate manpower suitable for an aging world, develop and export skills in healthcare
- Digitize the government to accelerate the adoption of technology
- Deploy digitization to standardize the economy and lower the use of cash
- Rapidly grow Raast P2M to mimic the success of UPI in India.
Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz and chairman of the Telecom Operators Association of Pakistan recently highlighted the urgency of these reforms. According to him, they are very important for improving access to education, healthcare, finance, and other fundamental services for the people of Pakistan. He also discussed the successful implementation of the reduced General Sales Tax (GST) at eateries in Islamabad. He said that there is still a significant proportion of transactions in the country that rely on cash despite the remarkable surge in the adoption of digital payments.
Aamir also proposed the rationalization of the Withholding Tax (WHT) from 15pc to 8pc to promote widespread broadband adoption, particularly among low-income groups. He said we should aim to make basic telecom/internet services more affordable. He also suggested a reduction in levies and duties on productivity tools, including smartphones and laptops. His major emphasis was to prioritize local manufacturing of 4G-enabled devices. Moreover, he also called for the implementation of a ban on the import and local manufacturing of 2G-only handsets.
It would not be wrong to say that these wide reforms have the potential to revitalize the local technology industry, prompt innovation, and improve the affordability and accessibility of advanced technological devices for the people of Pakistan.
