Pakistan to attend CeBit Hannover Fair to market IT potential
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan will participate in the CeBit Hannover-2008 Fair being held in Germany from March 4 to 9 to market the potential of local IT companies at international level.
Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has established a customized country pavilion for the participating member companies, PSEB - a government agency mandated to promote Pakistan’s IT industry - announced here Monday.
The attendance of international trade fairs and exhibitions by local companies is integral part of the government’s policy which provides a chance to interact with the world renowned IT companies and executives to showcase their IT services potential. The delegation would generate valuable business leads with a high probability of transforming into successful business ventures with the participating companies.
Amongst the participating companies, Progressive Systems has expertise in web portal, web applications, enterprise mobile applications development and business intelligence & data warehousing. GoodCore Software is providing services for the development of business applications.
Xorlogics Inc. specializes in database applications and mobile applications while Server4Sale is a known icon in the area of website hosting services with integration of related applications.
Pakistan has immense potential in IT sector outsourcing services and its participation in the upcoming CeBit fair will help increase interaction between the Pakistani companies and international IT firms, said a PSEB Spokesman. He said with an IT industry worth more than US$ 2.8 billion, including annual IT exports exceeding US$ 1.4 billion, Pakistan is eyeing to increase the size of IT sector to over US$ 11 billion by 2011. “Software export activities by Pakistani companies are not only enhancing the country’s image abroad but are also having a positive impact on the IT export related earnings of the country,” he added. He said one of the main factors behind Pakistan IT sector’s rapid growth is Pakistan Government’s policy to allow foreign investors 100% ownership of equity and 100% repatriation of profits, as well as tax exemption for IT companies until 2016.
It is mentioned here that CeBit is the world’s largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environment.
The key target groups are users from industry, the wholesale and retail sector, skilled traders, banks, the services sector, government agencies, science and all users passionate about technology. The fair offers an international platform for comparing notes on current industry trends, networking, and products presentations. CeBit is organized by Deutsche Messe AG every year, since 1986.’