Govt earmarks 2 billion for Pakistan Startup Funds

Islamabad: The government on Tuesday earmarked Rs 2 billion for the Pakistan Startup Fund, aiming to bolster venture capital investment within the country.

An official from the Ministry of IT said that this fund will extend financial support to startups, with each receiving 30% backing, while venture capitalists will contribute the remaining 70% of the capital.

This initiative, he hoped is anticipated to significantly contribute to Pakistan’s economic growth.

To boost mobile phone production domestically, he said the government has unveiled a 3% Research and Development (R&D) incentive for the local handset manufacturing industry.

This incentive, he was of the view, is designed to enhance the industry’s global competitiveness in terms of pricing.

The government plans to introduce a strategy for manufacturing components within Pakistan, thus making locally produced phones more affordable compared to imported ones through a tariff-differential policy.

Highlighting the potential of Pakistan’s cellular market, the official said that the country ranks as the seventh-largest market for cellular users globally, boasting 191 million cellular connections.

“However, we import most of our mobile phones. We need to manufacture them locally and develop an industry to export made-in-Pakistan phones,” he remarked.