ISLAMABAD: The government has been asked to provide incentives to freelancers to enable them to earn precious foreign exchange for the country.
This was stated by Kaukab Ikram Mughal, honorary secretary of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Pakistan, while talking to WealthPK.
“The government should organise meetups and expos both locally and internationally to help increase the digital outreach to the customers and build partnerships to boost revenues for the country,” said Ikram Mughal from CILT, a prestigious body of transport and logistics professionals.
“The government should create a digitally-conducive environment and impart trainings to youth on graphic designing, content writing, etc.
Meanwhile, Dr Sahibzada Mehmood Ali, Managing Director of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board, told WealthPK that the provincial government has established the Special Technology Zone Authority (STZA) to support growth of IT services.
“The IT zones being set up under the authority are exempt from property tax, federal sales tax and all other levies falling under the Income Tax Ordinance 2001,” he explained, saying if freelancers import capital goods, they will not be charged any tax.
“The export proceeds generated through freelancing will remain exempt from income tax till 2030,” he added.
Mehmood Ali said, “The ministry of information technology is helping the Information Technology Board promote freelancing.”
According to Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), steps are being taken to build marketplaces to promote freelancing in the country. Freelancers are being provided with digital banking platforms to enable them to make e-payments.
They will also have access to banking loans, leasing services and credit cards.
The cost of registration for a freelancer is quite low, which is aimed to provide ease-of-doing business. The PSEB is also collaborating with different organisations to provide incentives to freelancers like facilitation desks and technology parks. The board is also providing training to local freelancers to enable them to be competitive and export their services.
According to an international survey, the global average hourly rate paid to freelancers is $21, demonstrating that freelancing offers a lucrative earning potential that often exceeds average salaries, particularly in emerging economies. The most popular fields of work for freelancers are web development, graphics designing (30%), computer programming (19%), IT services (10%), multimedia production (8%), content writing (8%), translation (7%), marketing (6%), admin (3%), customer support (2%), project management (2%), sales (2%), quality assurance (2%) and finance (1%). On average, each US freelancer is earning $21,000 per annum, while a Pakistani freelancer earns $3,500 per annum.
INP
