“Pakistan’s gig economy is worth $300 million and the fourth largest in the world”

Mamun M. Adil: What led to the establishment of the Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA) in 2021?

Tufail Ahmed Khan: PAFLA was formed to facilitate freelancers and overcome the issues they faced. Although PAFLA was established in 2021, our co-founder and chairman, Ibrahim Amin, began working on assisting freelancers earlier. For example, in 2020, B2C payments were not allowed in Pakistan, which meant that organisations such as Microsoft or Google could not pay freelancers in Pakistan legally. He resolved this issue after talks with the State Bank of Pakistan (SPB) and a commercial bank. Eventually, the SPB issued a circular allowing B2C payments. Another issue was that freelancers could not open bank accounts because banks required office addresses to do so and as they worked from home, they were unable to provide this. Mr Amin started working with a few freelancers, commercial banks and the SBP to resolve the issue and in 2020, the SBP issued a circular announcing the creation of a new account category for ‘freelancer digital accounts’. This is how PAFLA’s journey began. Mr Amin realised the need for an association to help resolve issues faced by freelancers and assist them in becoming part of the financial ecosystem. The association was registered in 2021 with three co-founders: Ibrahim Amin, Fahad Sheikh and Haroon Q. Raja. In 2022, I joined PAFLA as president and CEO.

MMA: Your website mentions several membership packages, including a premium and a regular one. How do these memberships work?

TAK: Currently we are only providing ‘regular’ memberships that are free of charge and we have over 50,000+ members. Benefits include assisting them in creating bank accounts and offering them guidance in how to become part of the banking ecosystem. This remains a challenge for them, as does receiving payments. We also organise events that provide members with the opportunity to network with other organisations and freelancers. These events have been hosted in different cities. Last year, we organised the Future of Work conference at the Pearl Continental in Karachi, which drew over 3,000 participants. We also provide opportunities to freelancers to showcase their work. For example, we publish their articles on our website if they meet our criteria. This helps them build a portfolio and their work is also shared on our WhatsApp channel, which has 350,000 followers, in addition to our Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. The other packages are in the testing stages.

MMA: Which other events have you organised?

TAK: The Freelance Fest in 2021 in Islamabad and Karachi. We have organised more than 20 freelancing awareness sessions in Arifwala, Gilgit, Gorewala, Hyderabad, Karachi, Pindi, Skardu and Thatta. Furthermore, we organise focus groups for organisations that want to conduct research on freelancers. Thanks to our efforts, we have received international recognition in a relatively short period of time. For example, the governments of Dubai, Namibia and Nepal have invited us to establish freelancer associations in their countries, recognising our impact and expertise.

MMA: Does PAFLA provide training?

TAK: We don’t, which is why we recently approached Google and reached an agreement that they would provide courses to freelancers in Pakistan free of charge, especially courses that focus on soft skills as hard skills (such as coding, data analytics or digital marketing) can be acquired relatively easily in comparison.

MMA: How would you define soft skills?

TAK: Those that freelancers require when they are trying to secure work with clients internationally, such as communication, problem solving, critical thinking, personal grooming and personal branding skills. This is why, after we spoke with Google, they offered us Google Career Certificates for 500 people and 20,000 scholarships on soft skills. We ran a campaign on social media to attract freelancers to apply for these courses that are conducted by Google. Once completed, members receive certification and this strengthens their portfolio, which is a big benefit as some of them cannot afford such courses.

MMA: Are hard skills easy to acquire?

TAK: Yes. For example, DigiSkills is a project of the Ministry of IT & Telecom that was initiated by Anusha Rahman and provides such opportunities as do other government institutions like the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission, Sindh Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority and the Punjab Skills Development Fund. However, the first step – counselling – is crucial.

MMA: Which other initiatives has PAFLA undertaken?

TAK: In January 2024, we conducted a detailed research study on freelancers with the Asian Development Bank (ADP). It was the first of its kind in Pakistan. According to the ADP, Pakistan’s gig economy is the fourth largest in the world; it is worth $300 million and is expected to reach $1.6 billion by 2030. There are 2.73 million freelancers in Pakistan and 60% are in their twenties and thirties.

MMA: What is the male-to-female ratio?

TAK: Seventy-nine percent are men and 21% are women. We are working at increasing the number of women freelancers and are going to enter into a partnership with the Government of Sindh to increase awareness among women in interior Sindh.

MMA: In which areas are freelancers mainly involved in Pakistan?

TAK: Digital marketing, followed by graphic design, website development, content writing and data analytics.

MMA: Which fields should freelancers focus on in the future?

TAK: AI is in high demand in almost every field – healthcare, marketing, finance, and auditing. Freelancers should learn to use AI tools. Another important field is cybersecurity, given the increasing number of apps and websites under development.

MMA: What advice would you give freelancers to improve their visibility?

TAK: They need to focus on their personal branding; otherwise, they will be left behind. To create a personal brand, you need to become a thought leader. Start by producing content and putting together a personal branding plan. LinkedIn is the ideal platform. Develop a content strategy that involves posting industry-related content weekly to build visibility. Offline, engage in podcasts, attend industry events, and publish articles in reputable national and international publications to establish your brand.

MMA: Over the years, PAFLA has signed various MOUs with different organisations. Which ones do you consider the most significant?

TAK: We have signed MOUs within the financial sector, including banks and fintechs, such as EasyPaisa and JazzCash. These are aimed at facilitating the opening of bank accounts for freelancers, which is still a significant hurdle due to a lack of awareness. We have MOUs with organisations, whereby they offer discounts on their co-working spaces or when using apps such as GoLooto or Bookmyspot. We also have MOUs with government organisations such as the SBP, which assist us in freelance account certification. We organise webinars in collaboration with SBP that focus on giving our members a better understanding of their regulations.

MMA: What are your future plans with PAFLA?

TAK: My plan for the next five years is to cover every district and every village in Pakistan and increase awareness about freelancing opportunities.

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