The government's efforts to control the Internet put the future of the IT industry at stake
Software experts, businesses and capital are fleeing the country, reveals Chairman National Business Group
Muhammad Ali
KARACHI - The chairman of the National Business Group has revealed that the government's efforts to control the Internet have put the future of the IT industry at stake, with software experts, businesses and capital fleeing the country. According to the details, Mian Zahid Hussain, Chairman of FPCCI Policy Advisory Board and National Business Group Pakistan, has said in his response to the situation caused by the interruption of internet services in the country that the government's efforts to control the internet. Due to the IT industry and the future of online business is at stake, a large number of businesses are affected while freelancers are losing their jobs.
Companies doing business through the Internet are fleeing the country in large numbers, while the reputation of Pakistan is deteriorating in other countries and the business of Pakistani companies and freelancers is being badly affected.
Many other countries have also controlled the Internet, but in Pakistan, those who do so are incompetent, which is sinking the economy. Mian Zahid Hussain has said that currently the favorite destination of Pakistani software companies is Dubai where electricity is cheap, business environment is favorable, payment system is better and contracts are enforced.
It is incomprehensible to strangle companies doing business in Pakistan instead of giving them better incentives, except in an environment like Dubai. While the Pakistan Business Council has also made a worrying disclosure regarding the interruption of internet services caused by the installation of internet firewall in the country. According to the report of private TV channel Aaj News, Pakistan Business Council has revealed that several multinational companies have planned to move their office from Pakistan due to large-scale internet shutdown or slow speed in the country due to the installation of firewalls. While most companies have already done this.
We are forced to pay the cost of capacity in power generation which leads to unemployment and loss of exports and tax revenue but now we face the risk of idle capacity in the emerging software sector due to poor implementation of firewalls. is facing If firewalls were necessary for security, earlier trials could have saved the livelihoods of thousands of freelance software developers and damaged Pakistan's reputation as a reliable supplier of IT-related services.
The Pakistan Business Council has urged the government to reconsider and get the right firewall or learn to implement it without undue impact on employment and exports. On the other hand, according to a report, the online business sector has started to be severely affected due to the disruption in internet surfing in Pakistan. The e-commerce sector is facing serious difficulties as clients of Fiverr and Amazon withdraw their orders.
The online business sector is badly affected by the disruption in internet surfing and it has been revealed that the IT industry is losing 4 crores per day and IT exports are losing 13 million dollars. According to the online business owner, where he used to work for 5 to 6 hours, now he is working for 10 hours. According to the IT professional, the businessman sitting abroad does not trust us.
It should be noted that the situation arising due to the slow speed and disruption of internet services in Pakistan has become alarming. E-commerce companies started leaving Pakistan due to disruption of internet services, slow internet, social media apps affected business, there was fear of loss of 3 billion dollars in exports of IT sector. In this regard, important revelations were made during the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication held on Thursday.
In a meeting presided over by Senator Palusha Mohammad Zai Khan, the Senate Committee deliberated on the issue of recent internet disruptions across the country that are causing real-time disruptions to people running e-commerce businesses. During the meeting, Senator Afnanullah said that the country is already facing an economic crisis and if the Internet problem is not resolved, the country may lose 3 billion dollars in exports of the IT sector.
Internet slowdowns cost at least 500 million, leaving many e-commerce companies. Ayesha Humira Chaudhry, secretary of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, explained that there is no problem with broadband connection, but mobile operators using mobile data are facing obstacles. The PTA is reviewing the issue, and in two weeks the ministry will be in a better position to provide an assessment.
On the other hand, the Pakistan Software Houses Association has responded to the interruption of Internet services in Pakistan and said that the fear of large-scale exodus of IT companies from the country has been revealed, and the hasty implementation of the firewall has resulted in serious consequences. , the burgeoning IT industry is facing its worst disaster, with internet outages initially costing $300 million, the losses will continue to grow exponentially.