ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) on Tuesday demanded of the government to abolish General Sales Tax (GST) on computer assemblers in the upcoming federal budget 2018-19 to boost the budding local industry.
“Pakistan’s computer assembling industry is struggling for its survival due to continued imposition of GST,” Bashrat Boloch, chairman of the Pakistan Computer Association, said while talking to the representatives of information technology (IT) business community.
“Therefore, government ought to take corrective measures to protect thousands of the people from getting unemployed resulted by possible closure of the industry.”
Boloch said improved security situation, efficient economic policies and development projects in all sectors, including the historic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), were indicative of the fact that government’s positive policies were paying off. “Likewise, friendly business environment in the country was also attracting large number of foreign investors in the country,” he said. However, he added, the government’s steps towards local assembling and manufacturing of personal computers (PCs) were far less than required.
“The sector requires key structural reforms to remain viable and for local assembly to flourish, raw material and inputs have to be zero-rated at all stages of the product lifecycle from the import to the sales stage,” Baloch stressed.
The statement said the IT community representatives highlighted that before 2005, a number of local assemblers emerged to enrich the PC industry in Pakistan.
“This created a healthy environment for the assembly, manufacturing, testing, supply, repair and maintenance of IT products in Pakistan,” the statement quoted an industry representative.
It added that as a result, the locally assembled products helped save valuable foreign exchange, reducing dependency on imported goods and to create employment opportunities for enterprising youth and innovators, they added.
The industry officials suggested simplification of tax regime for the acceleration of opportunities as well as creation of employment in the country. “Thus, the government needs to come up with tax exemption to the local assembling industry, at least for a period of five years,” a representative said adding this step would help create jobs, develop higher level skills, save foreign exchange, reduce reliance on foreign countries, revive industry, and promote quality local products.”
In his concluding remarks, Boloch said the countries across the globe had observed transformation impact of their economic indicators due to local manufacturing.
“Pakistan has the potential to replicate these models provided the government comes up with immediate corrective measures to save the industry and to allow it make important contribution in the national economy,” he said.
