Pakistan IT-ITES booms
By Techgirl

Like many Indian journalists, I believe that Pakistan has the same IT-ITES skill sets like India, and given political stability, they will be a formidable competitor to India.

While India’s IT-ITES sector is a $60 Billion industry and growing at a steady rate, Pakistan is also on a growth curve.

According to Pakistani media Thenews Pakistan Software House Association (PASHA) has registered 20 new Information Technology (IT) firms in the second quarter of 2010, depicting a significant growth over last year, when it enrolled the same number of companies in 12 months

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Over 400 IT firms in the country are PASHA members, which employ around 150,000 professionals, leaving a small number of companies outside its domain. PASHA, formed some 10 years ago, estimates the size of the local IT industry at more than $2 billion per annum with yearly exports of around $1 billion.

Jehan Ara, President, PASHA, said in a presentation that the IT sector had become one of the most innovative and vibrant industries, advancing at a pace of 30 to 50 percent per annum.

“Pay scale in the IT sector is the healthiest among the rest of the professions and every other firm is now looking for people.” A skilled IT graduate can easily earn a salary of Rs 100,000 per month within the first four years of his career, Yusuf Jan, Chairman, PASHA added.
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Techgoss note:  Techgirl is a senior Tech journalist who reports on the IT, KPO and KPO Sectors for a leading media house.  In her spare time, she dabbles in satire in her blog http://techgirltalk.blogspot.com