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'Pakistan may be the largest mobile application developer in the world,' Chairman, P@SHA | Business Recorder
Information technology has been widely touted as a prominent up-and-coming sector in the country. Beyond the few sizeable enterprises that pioneered in the IT sector over the past decade and a half, there is a new emerging force that is propelling the growth of IT in the country, according to Naseer Akhtar, the President of Infotech Group and current Chairman of P@SHA. In a recent interview with BR Research, he contended that "Pakistani youngsters command a significant share in the global mobile application market to the point that Pakistan may be the largest mobile application developer in the world."
The industry veteran informed that the major focus of IT firms in the country is on development: web and applications. However, he pointed out that margins in these areas are thinning as "coding is becoming cheaper world-wide". He highlighted research, analytics and design as "emergent opportunities" but added that these areas require specialised expertise that must be inculcated through the induction of PhD holders and expert practitioners.
While commending the efforts made by the likes of P@SHA and Plan9, he said that emerging tech entrepreneurs are blazing their own paths and cementing their global competitiveness; but, that at present, these start-ups are not graduating into enterprise-level businesses. Though Akhtar admits that the prevalent legal framework may not be especially conducive towards mergers and acquisitions, still he contends that the major limiting factor is the prevalent mindset in the country.
"I have personally attempted to acquire more than three dozen companies over the years. In some cases, their owners went on to shutdown their businesses instead of selling them to someone else that could have revived them." He highlighted that this trend is not limited to the IT sector or even the services sector as a whole; "in the past two decades there are few if any mentionable examples of firms that have grown as a result of M&As".
Infotech Group itself has grown organically over a period of 23 years. It began as a small company back in 1987. At that time, it provided hardware and software products and also network solutions. Since that time, the Company has emerged as a prominent IT firm in the country and is primarily focused on system integration.
"If there is a bank that needs computing infrastructure, it would need hardware and software installed throughout its network; then it would require some specialised software for different purposes that can also be compatible with each other; so, that is the kind of work we do", stated Akhtar while explaining the business of his Company.
Infotech primarily caters to the financial industry including banks, stock exchanges and funds. The Company has also developed its own trading engine which it is selling world-wide. Public sector is another focus area for the Company. "Our e-governance solutions include government-to-citizen and government-to-business services like online driving license renewals, birth registrations and issuance of business licenses."
The Company maintains presence in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It has also established a Company office in Singapore. The Company's president explained that the Singaporean authorities are very eager to help businesses that establish themselves there.
Given this background information about the efforts of the Singaporean authorities to attract businesses and investments, the conversation naturally shifted to government support here in Pakistan. Unfortunately, there is little support to speak of; Naseer Akhtar revealed that "the Pakistan Software Export Board is completely dormant and no meeting of its members has been convened in well over two years; the impetus that was generated by Dr Ata-ur-Rahman is now long gone."
He also informed that the industry's sole interaction with the current State Minister of Information Technology, Mrs. Anusha Rahman took place when she graced the P@SHA Awards with her presence; albeit briefly. The Prime Minister has kept the portfolio of Federal IT Minister to himself, but has not met with industry representatives since assuming charge.
Pakistan has been sliding down each year on the Network Readiness Index, published by the World Economic Forum. "This has been a recurring occurrence in recent years, while across the border in India; city after city is emerging as an IT hub.
"At present, India is home to six of the top ten cities on that list, while two are in the Philippines," he highlighted. Why is the country stagnating on this front while other companies with comparable demographics and incomes per capita prosper? Akhtar believes that there is a lack of leadership that can grasp the emergent opportunity and galvanize stakeholders to take on the challenges.
The new government appears to have ignored the domestic IT sector, much like its predecessors. But the industry stalwart lamented that the industry stakeholders have also not helped their own cause. "There is no effort to market our industry or the country; not from industry stakeholders or from the government," he said explaining that while some large IT companies often pitch to existing and potential clients abroad, there are no collective efforts to attract business to the country.
Compared to IT firms across the country's eastern border, Pakistani firms are typically engaged in services that provide higher potential yields. Akhtar explained that Indian firms dominate in BPO segments that generally yield lower per capita returns than segments like software development, research and engineering. However, the size of the domestic industry is quite small in comparison to India and also in the context of global trade of IT services.
Even though IT firms in the country have posted impressive growth in recent years, Naseer Akhtar believes that the growth trajectory so far has not moved in line with true potential. "There is a lot of good work being done but we must step up the scale significantly. As a nation, we must focus on getting ourselves back into the mainstream globally. There are multiple fronts to work very hard on as an industry, as government and as a nation."
Information technology has been widely touted as a prominent up-and-coming sector in the country. Beyond the few sizeable enterprises that pioneered in the IT sector over the past decade and a half, there is a new emerging force that is propelling the growth of IT in the country, according to Naseer Akhtar, the President of Infotech Group and current Chairman of P@SHA. In a recent interview with BR Research, he contended that "Pakistani youngsters command a significant share in the global mobile application market to the point that Pakistan may be the largest mobile application developer in the world."
The industry veteran informed that the major focus of IT firms in the country is on development: web and applications. However, he pointed out that margins in these areas are thinning as "coding is becoming cheaper world-wide". He highlighted research, analytics and design as "emergent opportunities" but added that these areas require specialised expertise that must be inculcated through the induction of PhD holders and expert practitioners.
While commending the efforts made by the likes of P@SHA and Plan9, he said that emerging tech entrepreneurs are blazing their own paths and cementing their global competitiveness; but, that at present, these start-ups are not graduating into enterprise-level businesses. Though Akhtar admits that the prevalent legal framework may not be especially conducive towards mergers and acquisitions, still he contends that the major limiting factor is the prevalent mindset in the country.
"I have personally attempted to acquire more than three dozen companies over the years. In some cases, their owners went on to shutdown their businesses instead of selling them to someone else that could have revived them." He highlighted that this trend is not limited to the IT sector or even the services sector as a whole; "in the past two decades there are few if any mentionable examples of firms that have grown as a result of M&As".
Infotech Group itself has grown organically over a period of 23 years. It began as a small company back in 1987. At that time, it provided hardware and software products and also network solutions. Since that time, the Company has emerged as a prominent IT firm in the country and is primarily focused on system integration.
"If there is a bank that needs computing infrastructure, it would need hardware and software installed throughout its network; then it would require some specialised software for different purposes that can also be compatible with each other; so, that is the kind of work we do", stated Akhtar while explaining the business of his Company.
Infotech primarily caters to the financial industry including banks, stock exchanges and funds. The Company has also developed its own trading engine which it is selling world-wide. Public sector is another focus area for the Company. "Our e-governance solutions include government-to-citizen and government-to-business services like online driving license renewals, birth registrations and issuance of business licenses."
The Company maintains presence in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It has also established a Company office in Singapore. The Company's president explained that the Singaporean authorities are very eager to help businesses that establish themselves there.
Given this background information about the efforts of the Singaporean authorities to attract businesses and investments, the conversation naturally shifted to government support here in Pakistan. Unfortunately, there is little support to speak of; Naseer Akhtar revealed that "the Pakistan Software Export Board is completely dormant and no meeting of its members has been convened in well over two years; the impetus that was generated by Dr Ata-ur-Rahman is now long gone."
He also informed that the industry's sole interaction with the current State Minister of Information Technology, Mrs. Anusha Rahman took place when she graced the P@SHA Awards with her presence; albeit briefly. The Prime Minister has kept the portfolio of Federal IT Minister to himself, but has not met with industry representatives since assuming charge.
Pakistan has been sliding down each year on the Network Readiness Index, published by the World Economic Forum. "This has been a recurring occurrence in recent years, while across the border in India; city after city is emerging as an IT hub.
"At present, India is home to six of the top ten cities on that list, while two are in the Philippines," he highlighted. Why is the country stagnating on this front while other companies with comparable demographics and incomes per capita prosper? Akhtar believes that there is a lack of leadership that can grasp the emergent opportunity and galvanize stakeholders to take on the challenges.
The new government appears to have ignored the domestic IT sector, much like its predecessors. But the industry stalwart lamented that the industry stakeholders have also not helped their own cause. "There is no effort to market our industry or the country; not from industry stakeholders or from the government," he said explaining that while some large IT companies often pitch to existing and potential clients abroad, there are no collective efforts to attract business to the country.
Compared to IT firms across the country's eastern border, Pakistani firms are typically engaged in services that provide higher potential yields. Akhtar explained that Indian firms dominate in BPO segments that generally yield lower per capita returns than segments like software development, research and engineering. However, the size of the domestic industry is quite small in comparison to India and also in the context of global trade of IT services.
Even though IT firms in the country have posted impressive growth in recent years, Naseer Akhtar believes that the growth trajectory so far has not moved in line with true potential. "There is a lot of good work being done but we must step up the scale significantly. As a nation, we must focus on getting ourselves back into the mainstream globally. There are multiple fronts to work very hard on as an industry, as government and as a nation."
