News Analysis |
Pakistani application developers and web experts are contributing $15 million per month to the national exchequer in revenue, GVS has learnt. With the exponential growth of the IT industry, this milestone has set Pakistan closer to achieving its own silicon valley. According to an online statistics agency, the global capital in app development will reach $110 billion next year, which is 30 percent higher than that of last year.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in both the users and introduction to progressive broadband services, the popularity of smart devices and an all-out awareness that has popularized the use of android and IOS applications. Pakistani universities are offering specialized courses in their curriculum, especially in Computer Sciences and Software offshoots to cater to comprehensive application development.
The most important element of the e-commerce ecosystem is Payment Gateway that will enable entry of credible international players in e-commerce ecosystem of Pakistan.
The report said the number of markets that will generate above $100 million in app revenue will go above 40 as well. In mature markets, more consumers are likely to spend over an average of an hour a month on shopping apps and websites.
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Mr. Junaid Ur Rehman, an app developer and software student at Bahria University Islamabad spoke to GVS: “A few years ago people were not as familiar with the concept of operating systems and smartphones. In a small period of time we’ve made a dent in the global share of the app development industry. Pakistani students who were previously creating websites and online shopping portals are now specializing in app development”.
Google Play Store has outdone the iTunes App Store in terms of total app count by almost one and a half times; with 3.5 million apps available for download as compared to the Apple store’s 2 million applications. The trends of mobile app technology are dynamic and have been witnessed by the changes that have taken place.
It signals not only rapid evolution, but ascertains the need for mobile app developers to be adaptive and versatile to the preceding changes. In Pakistan, the social need to adapt to trends has played out a major role in the supply and demand chain of mobile apps. For a recent comparison, Pakistani mobile users got introduced to an Indian developed application Ludo Star.
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The digital commerce market, in retrospect, has been one of the most important drivers of Pakistan’s tech industry and a direct player in revenue. The size of the e-commerce market is expected to grow up to US $1 billion by 2020.
Social media frenzied over this app for quite some time and the app earned an estimated $5 Million in revenue. The aforementioned report also said that an individual spends an average of about 3.5 hours using mobile devices, which has resulted in a 66 percent increase in investment of digital advertisement while 22 percent of all e-Commerce in retail and sales traces back to mobile devices.
The digital commerce market, in retrospect, has been one of the most important drivers of Pakistan’s tech industry and a direct player in revenue. The size of the e-commerce market is expected to grow up to US $1 billion by 2020.
To facilitate growth, frameworks for Payment System Operators (PSO) and Payment Service Providers (PSP) have been devised and approved by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) while the development of e-commerce Policy Framework is also under process to cater to all elements of user, merchant trust with dispute resolution and remedial mechanisms.
Google Play Store has outdone the iTunes App Store in terms of total app count by almost one and a half times; with 3.5 million apps available for download as compared to the Apple store’s 2 million applications.
The annual report of 2017 of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has announced that on directives of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Commerce has formulated “E-Commerce Policy Board” to scrutinize progress and ensure coordination across all institutional efforts for development of e-commerce in Pakistan. The report stated that in the private sector, entrepreneurs have launched e-commerce initiatives for consumers that have been success stories such as daraz.pk, olx.com, homeshopping.pk.
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The most important element of the e-commerce ecosystem is Payment Gateway that will enable entry of credible international players in e-commerce ecosystem of Pakistan and will resolve longstanding barriers of growth of the Pakistani e-commerce market. The recent policy and regulatory development have paved way for credible international players to enter into Pakistan’s e-commerce market.
Recently, the world’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba, has shown its interest in the Pakistani market and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan to bring small and medium enterprise in course of e-commerce. Engagements with Alibaba can transform the reach of Pakistani products to international markets and help promote e-commerce and financial services in Pakistan.