ISLAMABAD: Freelancing can play a major role in minimising the current account deficit of Pakistan as the country has been ranked the fourth fastest-growing freelance market across the globe, INP reports.
Freelancing has become a rapidly growing industry in Pakistan. The country has been termed one of the top freelance markets by Pioneer’s Global Gig Economy Index. The Pakistani freelancers generate a revenue of more than $500 million each year, said a report of the Pakistan Software Export Board.
The government is taking steps to increase the number of freelancers in the country because of the outstanding performance of the sector. The national community of freelancers has generated $216.788 million by exporting their services from July to December during the current fiscal, which was a rise of 16.74 percent as compared to the earnings of the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.
Presently, more than one million freelancers are working in different specialised fields in Pakistan. The country has been ranked quite high in terms of the growth of freelancers. More people are attracted to freelancing in Pakistan owing to its huge potential.
Omar Chaudhry, a skilled data analyst and entrepreneur, said in his report that imparting training on freelancing to only five percent of Pakistan’s 58 million youth can enable the country to generate a revenue of $26 billion annually.
“A full-time freelancer can earn $9,000 per annum. With the help of 2.9 million trained freelancers, Pakistan can easily earn $26.1 billion while the current account deficit of the country is around 13.7 billion dollars only,” he said.
Having 63 percent population under 25, Pakistan can consolidate its position in the world freelance market by providing training to youth and educated people. The government has already launched different schemes including Digiskills and E-Rozgar in this regard. Digiskills is the largest training programme in the country.
The government has approved the National Freelancing Facilitation Policy, 2021 to make Pakistan a top market for freelancing. The major objective of the policy is to facilitate freelancers to create earning opportunities for themselves and earn foreign exchange for the country.
Arslan Khan, a full-time freelancer, told media that there were a lot of opportunities in the sector but the freelancers also faced several issues. “The banks take a lot of time to clear the amount sent to freelancers from abroad. They deduct 20 percent withholding tax, which discourages the freelancers,” he added.
He said that most of the customers and firms paid freelancers through the famous PayPal service across the world but the facility was not available in Pakistan. “It creates a lot of problems for the Pakistani freelancers because many customers only pay through this service,” he added.
He said that the government should resolve the issues of freelancers to get maximum benefits from the huge potential of the sector. He said that the government should exempt freelancers from tax and direct the banks to make their transactions easy and simple. “This sector has the potential to steer the country out of the economic crisis by reducing the current account deficit,” he added
