South Asia · updated 24 September 2026
🇵🇰 Doing business in Pakistan
230M population market with significant macro challenges.
Conditions are changing fast — check current government travel and trade advisories before acting.
Structural scores
Highlights: Large young population · IMF programme dependency · Currency instability
Key industries
Textiles & Garments → Stable
Pakistan is worlds 4th largest cotton producer and major garment exporter. Textile sector employs 40% of industrial workforce.
Main investors: China, UAE, UK, US
Agriculture → Stable
Agriculture contributes 24% of GDP. Pakistan is a major exporter of rice, cotton, wheat and sugarcane.
Main investors: China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands
Technology & IT Services ↑ Growing
Pakistan exports $2.6B in IT services. Karachi and Lahore are growing tech hubs with strong freelance developer community.
Main investors: US, UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia
Energy & Power → Stable
CPEC energy projects have added 10,000MW of capacity. Renewable energy is a growing priority under IMF programme.
Main investors: China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US
Sector priorities
- Technology & IT Outsourcing — PSEB support, competitive talent costs and strong English proficiency making Pakistan increasingly attractive for IT outsourcing.
- Agriculture & Food Processing — Large agricultural base with low processing value add creating significant opportunity for food technology and processing investment.
- Renewable Energy — Pakistan solar and wind potential is among South Asias highest. Government AEDB incentives support renewable project development.
Talent & work permits
Pakistan has a young population with 64% under 30. English widely used in business. Strong IT and engineering talent at competitive cost.
- Foreign workers: Work permit required from Ministry of Interior. Employer sponsored. Process can take 8 to 16 weeks.
- Localisation: No formal localisation quota outside of some sectors. Companies expected to prioritise local hiring as general practice.
- Key consideration: Pakistan offers some of the most cost competitive English speaking IT talent globally making it attractive for technology outsourcing.
How to enter: first four steps
Pakistan market entry requires careful planning given macro instability. SECP registration is straightforward but FX and repatriation planning is critical.
- Register with SECP — Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan online portal for company incorporation
- Register with FBR — Federal Board of Revenue for NTN national tax number and sales tax registration
- Open PKR and USD accounts — establish banking relationships with HBL, UBL or MCB before commencing operations
- Register with BOI — Board of Investment for foreign investment facilitation and repatriation approval processes
Indicative cost: 10-person team
Professional-services mix (1 senior, 5 professional, 2 admin, 2 support), Grade-A office, registration, legal, audit and tax compliance. Model estimate, not a quote. Model your own team size and industry →
Compare with South Asia peers
Common questions
Is Pakistan a good market to enter in 2026?
Pakistan scores 4.4/10 on EmergingMarketIQ’s structural index (risk: High). 230M population market with significant macro challenges. Current-conditions score: 4.4/10 (Pakistan relies heavily on Gulf crude and Qatari LNG; the Hormuz closure has caused fuel and power supply stress and inflation pressure. Pakistan hosted US–Iran talks in April 2026.) — updated 24 September 2026.
How much does it cost to set up a 10-person office in Pakistan?
Our cost model estimates about US$248k for the first year (≈US$19k per month run-rate plus ≈US$9k one-off setup) for a 10-person professional-services team. Indicative only.
What are the first steps to set up a company in Pakistan?
Register with SECP — Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan online portal for company incorporation Then: Register with FBR — Federal Board of Revenue for NTN national tax number and sales tax registration Then: Open PKR and USD accounts — establish banking relationships with HBL, UBL or MCB before commencing operations Then: Register with BOI — Board of Investment for foreign investment facilitation and repatriation approval processes
Source: EmergingMarketIQ country dataset — current conditions, alerts, GDP (World Bank 2025) and FX updated 24 September 2026; structural scores reviewed 24 September 2026. Rules, rates and conditions change — verify with local counsel before acting. Not legal, tax or investment advice.