Exclusive | Pakistan’s IT talent pool and Hong Kong’s access to capital make perfect match, envoy says
Consul General Riaz Ahmed Shaikh also says Hong Kong manufacturers can use his country as production base to avoid import duties slapped on Chinese-made products
Pakistan’s rich pool of IT talent combined with Hong Kong’s easy access to global capital present promising partnership opportunities in the technology sector, the country’s top envoy in the city has said in an exclusive interview with the Post.
Riaz Ahmed Shaikh, the Pakistani consul general, also said Hong Kong manufacturers could consider the South Asian country as an alternative production base to avoid import duties slapped by some Western countries on Chinese-made products, such as electric cars.
As Hong Kong strives to establish itself as an innovation hub to diversify its finance-dependent economy, the Pakistani envoy said he had noticed some of the expat IT workers hired by big companies in the city came from his country.
“We produce around 25,000 graduates every year in the IT field and we have numerous national incubation centres, so we have a good ecosystem as far as IT is concerned,” Shaikh said.
He said Pakistan’s emerging tech scene, however, had not been matched by a mature venture capitalist ecosystem vital for fundraising activities by local unicorns. He identified this as an area where his country and Hong Kong, as a global financial and trading hub, could work together.
“When an idea comes up, it can come in anyone’s mind anywhere. The important thing is how to nurture it after that and once it is developed, finances are also needed. This is where the venture capitalist will come,” he said.
“You have this good start-up and ecosystem for the IT industry and we want to collaborate with Hong Kong so that Pakistani start-ups can develop their products and then market it globally.”
