Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

 is the capital of Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 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

Islamabad Stock Exchange

Islamabad Stock Exchange or ISE is one and youngest of the three stock exchanges of Pakistan and is located in the capital of Islamabad. Islamabad stock exchange was incorporated as a guarantee limited company on 25 October 1989 in Islamabad capital territory with the main object of setting up of...

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

Karachi Stock Exchange

The Karachi Stock Exchange or KSE is a stock exchange located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's largest and oldest stock exchange, with many Pakistani as well as overseas listings. Currently located in Stock Exchange Building on Stock Exchange Road, in the heart of Karachi's Business...

 and Lahore Stock Exchange

Lahore Stock Exchange

Lahore Stock Exchange Limited is Pakistan's second largest stock exchange after the Karachi Stock Exchange. It is located in Lahore, Pakistan.- History :...

. The exchange has 118 members with 104 corporate bodies and 18 individual members. The average daily turnover

Turnover

-Business:*Turnover is sometimes a synonym for revenue , especially in European and South African usage.Services sold by a company during a particular period of time....

 of the stock exchange is over 1 million shares.

Islamabad has seen an expansion in information and communications technology

Information and communication technologies

Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...

 with the addition two Software Technology Parks

Science park

A research park, science park, or science and technology park is an area with a collection of buildings dedicated to scientific research on a business footing. There are many approximate synonyms for "science park", including research park, technology park, technopolis and biomedical park...

 which house numerous national and foreign technological and IT companies. The tech parks are located in Evacuee Trust Complex and Awami Markaz. Awami Markaz houses 36 IT

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 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 PIA

PIA

-In aviation::* Pacific Island Aviation* Pakistan International Airlines, the flag carrier of Pakistan.* Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario * Peoria International Airport IATA code...

, PTV

Pakistan Television Corporation

The Pakistan Television Corporation is Pakistan's national television broadcaster. The first live transmission of PTV began on November 26, 1964, in Lahore...

, PTCL

PTCL

PTCL may be:* Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd, Pakistan* Peripheral T-cell lymphoma* Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, England...

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

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

-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.

Business

According to the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

's Doing Business Report

Doing Business Report

The Doing Business Report is a study elaborated by the World Bank Group since 2004 every year that is aimed to measure the costs to firms of business regulations in 183 countries in 2010...

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