Istafa Ali
Freelancers in Pakistan will be able to get paid through PayPal, an online payment and money transfer service. This is good news for the country’s growing independent market.
Users can give and receive money in 25 different currencies in more than 200 countries around the world. This platform will greatly expand Pakistan’s untapped freelance market, making it easier to do business in many areas.
In a statement, acting Minister for Information and Technology Dr. Umar Saif pointed out that many popular online payment platforms were missing. He also said that freelancers in Pakistan have been asking for PayPal to work there for a long time.
“Fleetworkers will not have to open a PayPal account under the new plan.” Individuals outside of the country will instead pay freelancers through their PayPal accounts, and the money will be deposited right away, as the minister stated.
He said that foreign companies would be able to use low-orbit communication satellites to provide communication services under the country’s first space policy, which had been approved by the federal cabinet.
He said that satellite communication technology was improving quickly and that many private companies around the world wanted to use low-orbit satellites to offer communication services.
“In the past, satellites were geostationary, which meant they were not connected to the earth.” They are good for sending out TV signals, but it’s hard to talk to them because of lag.
Saif also said that communication and internet services could be provided by low-orbit satellites, which were located closer to Earth. He said that a lot of progress had been made in the business sector in this area.
“Now it is possible for Pakistan to have communication services through satellites, and the private sector has the technology to do this,” he said.
It was also emphasized by the minister that the National Space Policy would let private companies “offer affordable internet services in Pakistan while enabling increased investment in our national space program.”
There will be a National Space Policy in Pakistan that will allow private companies to provide cheap internet services and allow more money to be put into the country’s space program.
He was sure that 5G services would be available in the country by July of this year and that the 300MHz spectrum would be put up for sale.
He said that improvements had to be made to the broadband fiber network before 5G services could start. At the moment, only 6,000 of the 56,000 cell towers across the country are linked to the optic fiber network.
Dr. Saif said that his ministry had made a big choice to work with the Higher Education Commission, the National Computing Accreditation Council, the Examination Testing Council, the Pakistan Software Export Board, and the Pakistan Software Houses Association to change the way IT is taught in colleges.
“So far, about 31,000 students have signed up for the test as part of the program. Those who do well will be given jobs through the Industry Placement Programme.”
Dr. Saif said that the government was going to start a project to build 10,000 e-Rozgar centers across the country. These centers would have the most up-to-date tools for workers and new businesses.
The minister talked about the steps the government is taking to boost exports in the IT and telecom sector. He said, “The sector’s official export is currently $2.6 billion, but the actual figure is around $5 billion because the industry parks a lot of money outside the country to pay the salaries of their international employees working for foreign clients and the monthly costs of cloud hosting, marketing, and sales on platforms like Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, etc.”
