Pakistan all set for Canadian IT sector
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) is all set to explore opportunities in the Canadian IT market. Targeting Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto as its prospective business and IT hub, PSEB is organizing meetings in Canada from 21 - 30 April, 2008.
These meetings are being organized in association with Canada Pakistan Business Council (CPBC), Export Development Canada (EDC), Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC),The Indus Entrepreneur (TIE) and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). PSEB official stated that this visit will enable Pakistani IT companies to learn from successful experiences of their counterparts and expand their presence globally.
These meetings will provide an international platform for the member IT companies to interact with the Canadian market. PSEB will showcase the success of Pakistan IT industry to the international investors so as to attract them to open development centers in Pakistan. With lucrative government incentives, top of the line IT infrastructure and competitive workforce, Pakistan is emerging as a destination of choice for global outsourcing vendors.
The PSEB delegation comprises of twenty one member companies, which are renowned in their respective areas of expertise particularly in software/hardware development, web applications, graphics, animation multimedia, and other business process management services. The participating companies include: Netsol Technologies, Palm Chip, Xorlogics, Voxel Communication, Webiz Media, Super Technologies Inc., Softech Systems, Server4Sale, Sapphire Consulting Services, PrisLogix, PMS (Pvt) Ltd, Matora Digionics, Mansha Soft, Invaterra, East West Systems, EfroTech Services, DataFocal Systems, AKSA-SDS, A2Z Creatorz, 110 Solutions and PIBAS Pakistan.
According to Centre for Outsourcing Research & Education Canada (CORE) Canada’s IT infrastructure and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is worth more than $50 billion. In addition, the sector is also focusing to expand its outsourcing activities. Large organizations in Canada have already started adopting outsourcing as their operational strategy to access expertise and additional capabilities and to save costs. The report also confirms that the financial sector including banking and insurance is ranked highest for outsourcing followed by telecommunication, public sector and energy/utilities.
PSEB is a Government agency mandated to promote Pakistan’s IT Industry, including software, services, hardware and call centers locally and globally. PSEB regularly sponsors attendance by its member companies in International Trade Shows and Exhibitions that help companies showcase their capabilities and develop business contacts. PSEB has been facilitating the IT Industry through its programs in Human Capital, Office Space, Marketing, Company Capability Development, Telecom Bandwidth, Industry Finance, Public Policy, Strategy & Research, and Facilitation.