IT and Telecommunication Minister Syed Aminul Haque addresses a press conference in Islamabad. Photo courtesy PID
Information Technology and Telecommunication Minister Syed Aminul Haque on Tuesday stressed on the economic potential of digital businesses, noting Pakistan can earn significantly from enterprises such as call centers and remittances of freelancers.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside officials of his ministry and the chairman of the Pakistan Software House Association, he said it was necessary for the country’s bureaucrats to recognize that greater profits could be availed from the I.T. sector as compared to the trade of “tangible” items like vegetables. He lamented that this bureaucratic mindset was restricting the required pace of digitization in the country.
According to Haque, both the political and military leaderships of Pakistan recognize the importance of digitization, and are working to remove hurdles to the ease of doing business. He said the government was organizing an international seminar to promote the country’s I.T. sector on July 20 (Thursday), which would help the industry grow. “It is the future source of investments and remittances for Pakistan,” he maintained, adding that plans were in place to enhance I.T. exports to $15 billion over the next few years.
On available trainings for potential freelancers, he said the Digi Skills programs of Ignite had trained around 3.3 million people. Similarly, he explained, Google had trained 15,000 Pakistanis through various programs in 2022, with the figure expected to increase to 45,000 in 2023. “Now after negotiations with Google, around 450,000 Pakistanis will be trained by them in 2024,” he claimed.
Detailing the government’s digitization plans, he said targets had been set to promote smartphone usage. He said the price of a good quality smartphone in the country had dropped to around Rs. 20,000- 30,000 through the promotion of mobile phone manufacturing in the country. “As the number of smartphone users increases, the telecom companies and internet service providers too will be under pressure to expand their services,” he added.
The government is also aiming to enhance connectivity through 83 projects worth Rs. 77.8 billion, he said, claiming these would provide connectivity to remote and underserved areas of the country. The plan is for these projects to be completed by December 2023, he added.