Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) announces comprehensive incentives for local and foreign investors for a period of ten years to promote the Information Technology sector in Pakistan. According to the press release by the Press Information Department (PID), on Friday January 8, 2021, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, in a ceremony at Islamabad, launched the Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA). During his speech prime minister highlighted the objective of establishing the Special Technology Zone Authority and said that the authority has been launched to facilitate the Information Technology sector by incentivizing the local and foreign investors to make the sector flourish in the country.
The Premier said that being the 2nd biggest youth in the world, Pakistan can utilize the IT sector to provide employment to its youth. Moreover, Prime Minister Khan told that the organizations that adopted the IT made better gains during the pandemic due to their timely shifting toward the technology.
Amer Ahmed Hashmi has been appointed as the first Chairman of the authority. As stated by the Chairman ATZA, the authority aims at job creation, skills development, technology transfer and economic value generation for Pakistan. The authority will work on the establishment of technology zones throughout the country. Thus, the established zones will not only help in increasing the IT exports of the country but will also be bring a great opportunity for technology transfer from the technology hubs globally.
To boost the investments in the IT sector, the government is offering immunity through the Presidential orders from explaining the sources of the investments. The other important incentive to promote the investment in the IT sector is exemption from the withholding tax for a period of ten years. Moreover, exemption from the custom duties and taxes on supplies, such as machinery, hardware and software for a period of 10 years was also announced. Additional, incentive includes the exemption from the property tax and long term capital gains for a period of 10 years.
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