PSEB adds first Top Freelancer Award to its IT export awards

The Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has added a Top Freelancer Award to its PSEB IT Export Awards 2026, the first time the state body has formally recognised independent digital workers, according to TechJuice.

TechJuice reported that the award is open to registered freelancers who received export remittances through formal banking channels and hold Proceeds Realisation Certificates for July 2025 to June 2026. Applicants must also sign an undertaking that their information and documents are authentic. The nomination deadline was August 2026. TechJuice did not report any prize.

PSEB said freelancers contributed more than $1.1 billion to Pakistan's record $4.6 billion in IT and IT enabled services exports in FY26, TechJuice reported. The total was up 20 per cent on the year but about $400 million short of the government's $5 billion target. TechJuice said freelancer earnings rose about 50 per cent and now make up roughly a quarter of IT export value.

The $1.1 billion figure is higher than the totals the State Bank of Pakistan records directly for freelancers, which TechJuice said analysts put down to how remittances are reported.

A mixed welcome

Pakistan Freelancers Association chairman Ibrahim Amin said the award would encourage professionals to build skills and win international clients, TechJuice reported. He urged the government to help freelancers grow into startups and to fund their participation in global tech events.

Not every reader was convinced. TechJuice noted a commenter who wrote "first recognition, then taxation", and another who warned that many freelancers are considering Dubai after a tax measure. The report also pointed to recent reforms that let freelancers keep up to 50 per cent of earnings in foreign currency, and a 0.25 per cent tax rate reportedly locked in until 2029.

Reported from coverage in TechJuice, with a matching report in ProPakistani.