ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rehman Tuesday said the information technology software park being set up in the federal capital would help boost exports from the country.
While speaking at the IT Awards 2016 ceremony, the minister said that approval for the software park, which would be established by Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) in collaboration with Korea Exim Bank, had already been obtained.
She said the information technology (IT) sector was facing many challenges. The government would help IT, telecom and software companies to improve the volume of export, she added.
Anusha said the Exim Bank was investing $50 million for the IT park in the capital. The park spreading over an area of 45 acres would help promote the IT industry, local software experts, attract international companies to the local market, and increase IT exports by an estimated $120 million, she added.
Some 150 IT companies, she said, would be accommodated in the software park.
She said two IT parks would be established in Lahore and Karachi also.
She said the PSEB was doing valuable work and the new IT park would only further add to their efforts in strengthening Pakistan’s IT industry. The main purpose of the IT park would be to drive companies in developing more hardware and software solutions, thus boosting the country’s IT export, she added.
Anusha said, “I am confident that with this resolve and under the visionary guidance of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, we shall make Pakistan a digital Pakistan.”
The minister said the Incubator in Islamabad was going to start work next month with the efforts of PTA chairman in which 3000 interns would get IT training, 30 per cent of them would be female.
After Islamabad the incubators would be established in Peshawar, Quetta, Karachi, Lahore and backward areas of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan, she added.
The minister said the Google team had expressed its will to work with the youth of Pakistan as they were very vibrant, intelligent and challenging.
“Our main agenda is to digitalize Pakistan. Over 60% of 200 million people of Pakistan comprise of young people and they are the main strength and we are here to groom them and convert them into entrepreneurs to make them productive citizens of the country,” she added.
She said the actual volume of software extorts was four time more than the amount recorded by the State Bank of Pakistan.
According to a survey, Pakistan’s IT export revenue was Rs 2.7 billion while as the SBP it was Rs 500 million, she added.
Anusha said,” With our USF arm we are launching projects worth multi-billion to pass on the benefits of telecommunication and broadband services to the underserved and unserved masses.”
The awards were distributed among 10 IT exporters including NETSOL, Systems Limited, S&D Global Pakistan, Teradata, TRG. MTBC, Ovex Technologies, Global Payments Leader, LMKR and Mentor Graphics Pakistan.
Inbox at a glance, Infotech and NIFT were declared the top three IT domestic businesses while top three `IT startups’ were SYNERGY-IT, Venturedive and MD Vision.
Estica, Solotech and Xgrid got `innovation’ awards.
