News of Pakistan’s upgraded sovereign credit ratings, solid GDP growth estimates, as well as record advances in the KSE-100 stock index, are indicative of actions set by the elected government.
Pakistan continues to show great promise as a burgeoning technology hub to the world with its growing pool of talented, highly-motivated engineers. Indeed Pakistan’s KSE-100 stock index showed a 15% growth over the last fiscal year, outperforming most regional markets including India, Hong Kong and Korea. Its software and computer services sector posted a 250% return, the highest cumulative stock return in 2014/15.
As the largest technology company in Pakistan through our subsidiary, NetSol Technologies Ltd, we have nearly doubled our core NFS workforce in the last two years, in part to assist with the rollout of NFS Ascent, our next generation enterprise platform for the financing and leasing industry.
Many of these new employees were recruited from Pakistan and serve in our expanded technology campus in Lahore.
We also see Pakistan’s partnerships with countries such as China, which signed agreements to invest nearly $50 billion in key sectors, as well as investments from the UK and Saudi Arabia as encouraging signs of its geopolitical and economic turnaround. Similarly, the US is Pakistan’s largest trading partner with many Fortune 500 companies doing business in the country for decades.
More than 85 US-based companies are registered with the American Business Council of Pakistan and it is estimated that these companies have invested $1.5 billion in Pakistan producing about $3 billion in annual economic activity.
We expect to see these types of investments increase, bringing more opportunities for businesses across the world to expand in Pakistan as the country continues its economic resurgence and local entrepreneurial endeavours grow into larger companies with new technologies and new products and services.
We believe that as the economic outlook improves, coupled by a decisive campaign to improve internal security, NetSol will benefit from an improved perception and a greater recognition of the country’s competitive advantage and technology talent.
Najeeb Ghauri is chairman and chief executive of NetSol Technologies Inc.
