Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

is the capital of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and a net contributor to the Pakistani economy. Whilst having only 0.8% of the country's population, it contributes 1% to the country's GDP. The

Islamabad Stock Exchange The Islamabad Stock Exchange ( ur, or PSX-ISE) was a stock exchange located in Islamabad, Capital Territory, Pakistan. In 2016, it merged with the Pakistan Stock Exchange. History Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) was incorporated as a guara ...

, founded in 1989, is Pakistan's third largest stock exchange after

Karachi Stock Exchange The Karachi Stock Exchange ( ur, or PSX-KSE) was a stock exchange located in Karachi, Pakistan. Since 1947, it has been located at the Stock Exchange Building on I. I. Chundrigar Road. It has now been consolidated in the Pakistan Stock Exchan ...

and

Lahore Stock Exchange The Lahore Stock Exchange was a financial facility located in Lahore, Pakistan. It was incorporated as a company Limited by Guarantee under the Companies Act 1913 on 5 October 1970. In the first General meeting of the Board of Directors held on ...

. The exchange has 118 members with 104 corporate bodies and 18 individual members. The average daily turnover of the stock exchange is over 1 million shares. As of 2012, Islamabad LTU (Large Tax Unit) was responsible for Rs 371 billion in tax revenue, which amounts to 20% of all the revenue collected by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as of 2012. Islamabad has seen an expansion in

information and communications technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...

with the addition three Software Technology Parks which house numerous national and foreign technological and IT companies. The tech parks are located in Evacuee Trust Complex, Awami Markaz and I-9 sector. Awami Markaz houses 36 IT companies while Evacuee Trust house 29 companies. Call centers for foreign companies have been targeted as another significant area of growth, with the government making efforts to reduce taxes by as much as 10% in order to encourage foreign investments in the IT sector. Most of Pakistan's state-owned companies like

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines ( ur, ; abbreviated PIA, ur, ) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation. It ...

, PTV,

PTCL Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd., commonly known as PTCL ( ur, ) is the national telecommunication company in Pakistan.OGDCL Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, commonly known as OGDCL ( ur, شرکتِ محدود برائے ترقیاتِ گیس و تیل) is a Pakistani oil and gas company. It has a primary listing on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, and secondary ...

, and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd. are based in Islamabad. The city is home to many branches of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

-based companies, banks, and TV channels. Headquarters of all major telecommunication operators such as PTCL, Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone, China Mobile and are located in Islamabad. Being an expensive city, the prices of most of fruits, vegetable and poultry items increased in Islamabad during the years 2015-2020

Business

According to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

's ''

Doing Business Report The ease of doing business index was an index created jointly by Simeon Djankov, Michael Klein, and Caralee McLiesh, three leading economists at the World Bank Group. The academic research for the report was done jointly with professors Edward Gla ...

'' of 2010, Islamabad was ranked as the best place to start a business in Pakistan.

References

{{Economy of Pakistan