ISLAMABAD ( WEB NEWS )
Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has asked the leading American multinational IT company, Afiniti, to establish world-class call center in Pakistan for national and international customers.
PM Shehbaz Sharif was talking to a four-member delegation of renowned American multinational IT company, Afiniti, which called on him in Islamabad today under the leadership of company’s Chief Executive Officer, Jerome Kapelus.
Welcoming the interest of the US company Afiniti in making further investment in Pakistan’s IT sector, the Prime Minister said the talented IT workforce of Pakistan has the potential to compete in the global market.
The Prime Minister said he is personally monitoring the programme to equip the country’s talented youth with IT, AI and other advanced technological skills.
He said all facilities are being provided to IT companies to achieve the target of 25 billion dollar exports in the IT sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Jerome Kapelus said Pakistan’s IT sector is highly suitable for investment and business and currently more than one thouand highly talented and capable Pakistani experts are working at Afiniti Pakistan.
He said Pakistani youth have immense potential to work for the development of the IT sector. He said Afiniti is now a successful company in the region owing to Pakistan’s professional and trained workforce.
The delegation also lauded the talent of Pakistani IT professionals and their hard work for the development of the sector.
Govt committed to creating an enabling ecosystem for IT
A meeting was held on Monday at the Finance Division between Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb and a visiting delegation from Afiniti, a leading AI technology firm. The delegation was led by Jerome Vaughan Kapelus, CEO of Afiniti Software Solutions Pvt Ltd, and included Wedley Howard Fink, CFO of Afiniti, Osman Asghar Khan, MD & GM of Afiniti Pakistan, and Fakhar Ejaz, Senior Vice President of Global HR at Afiniti. The meeting focused on discussions regarding Afiniti’s expanding business operations in Pakistan, the recruitment of talent, and associated issues related to the taxation structure.
Jerome Vaughan Kapelus shared details about Afiniti’s operations, noting that nearly 80 percent of its operational support team is based in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. He highlighted the company’s growth over the years, with its customer base now spanning North America, Europe, and other regions globally. Jerome Vaughan Kapelus also spoke highly of the talent pool in Pakistan, particularly engineers, computer scientists, and technologists, expressing that Afiniti’s experience in recruiting high-quality human resources in the country had been exceptional. He emphasized that Afiniti was “thrilled” with the caliber of talent available in Pakistan, which has contributed significantly to the company’s success.
Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb welcomed the delegation and expressed his appreciation for Afiniti’s growth and its continued investment in Pakistan. He noted that information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services, along with agriculture, represent major growth sectors for Pakistan, with the unique advantage that much of the input for these sectors remains local. He assured the delegation that the government is committed to creating an enabling ecosystem for both IT and agriculture to thrive. The Finance Minister briefed the delegation on a range of taxation reforms aimed at modernizing the tax system through the use of people-processed technology and end-to-end digitalization. He stressed the government’s goal of broadening the tax base, including bringing previously non-compliant sectors into the tax net. This, he explained, would provide greater space for sectors that are over-taxed, such as the salaried class and manufacturing sectors.