We want to establish Nepal as a country that exports services and not workers: Minister Sharma
Communication and Information Technology Minister Rekha Sharma has said that she wants to change the identity of a country that exports only labor and now establish Nepal as a country that exports services.
He expressed this opinion while addressing the National Dissemination Conference on the growth of information technology in Nepal conducted by Institute for Integrated Development Studies.
In the event, a report on the overall situation of information technology and service export in Nepal was released. Citing the report, Minister Sharma said that the fact that 106 companies and 66 thousand 509 freelancers have exported information technology services in Nepal till 2022 is an important aspect. The report revealed the fact that services worth 515 million US dollars were exported and contributed 1.4 percent to the gross domestic product of Nepal.
He says that this has contributed five and a half percent to the foreign exchange reserves. She said, ‘This is very happy and important information for Nepal. The fact that 83.5 percent of the workforce exporting information technology services are young people in the age group of 20 to 29 years has been made public, this is a very important progress from the point of view of the overall development of Nepal and youth participation in it.
She mentioned that the government has made information technology a national priority and has moved forward with the suggestions of experts in this field.
Stating that the government of Nepal prioritizes the development of the information and communication technology sector with the basic slogan of ‘The foundation of modern life: Information technology and government’, she said that the government has adopted a policy of spending at least one percent of the total capital budget on research, innovation and invention.
Informing that the limit of foreign investment in the information technology industry has been removed from this year, Minister Sharma has started to provide foreign exchange matching facility up to 10 percent of the foreign exchange earnings made by the industry for the purpose of exporting information technology services to establish contact offices in third countries and to purchase software or programs and install equipment. She said that it has been announced through the budget of the financial year.
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