Hosting the APICTA awards for the first time will be “a huge honour” for Pakistan, the PM asks the IT sector to do so.
ISLAMABAD:
On Wednesday, Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, claimed that Pakistan’s IT industry had vast untapped potential and invited global businesses and professionals to fully explore the nation’s talented youth bulge.
The prime minister was speaking at the 21st Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2022 opening event. In cooperation with the ministry of information technology and telecommunication, the Pakistan software houses association (P@SHA) and the TechDestination for IT and information technology enabled services (ITES) hosted the event (MoITT).
The 2022 edition of the APICTA Awards, sometimes known as the “Oscars of the Asian IT sector,” will take place in Islamabad from December 7–11.
Youth make up 60% of the population, he noted, adding that it is both a challenge and a chance to turn this potential into opportunities.
The overall IT export from Pakistan, according to the prime minister, was roughly $2.6 billion, which did not completely capture the enormous potential.
He added that he had presided over several discussions to consider ways to inspire young people and advance the IT industry.
He cited specialists who indicated that a target of $5 billion in yearly IT export could be accomplished with ease.
Ahsan Iqbal, the minister of planning, and Marriyum Aurangzeb, the minister of information and broadcasting, together with officials, delegates, IT specialists, and business leaders, were present at the occasion.
According to the prime minister, there are already more than 19,000 ICT businesses registered in Pakistan, which are dispersed over 160 cities.
He continued by saying that Pakistan’s ICT sector exported cutting-edge goods and services to 169 nations and territories.
“Let’s collaborate at a faster pace to close the digital divide and accelerate the development of the ICT sector and technology commerce among the 16 APICTA member countries,” he continued.
He remarked that hosting the awards for the first time was a big honour for Pakistan.
16 economies from the region are participating in the event, while more than 150 foreign participants are coming from places like Malaysia, Australia, and Singapore.
Syed Amin Ul Haque, the IT minister, stated that Pakistan was working toward a knowledge-based economy and that the world was growing more and more dependent on IT.
Stan Singh-Jit, the chairman of APICTA, stated in his statement that he had opted for Pakistan to host the awards ceremony because the nation had never hosted such an event and had excellent, skilled people in the industry.
