Parliament to become paperless by January 2023: Amin

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Amin-ul-Haq Wednesday said that all business of the Parliament of Pakistan would be made paperless by January 2023.

Addressing groundbreaking ceremony of “ISLAMABAD IT PARK” along with South Korean Ambassador Suh Sangpyo he said, “The consultant had been hired to digitalize the parliament by January 2023, all the calling attentions notice, adjured motions, attendance, voting and other business will be done online through technology.”

The minister said Ministry of Information Technology would also arrange training for the parliamentarians to make them familiar to the technology.

He said that proposal was also under consideration to digitalize legislative business and standing committee meetings.

Amin said first time, paperless cabinet meeting was held which was a great milestone achieved in the history of the country.

The minister said IT Park Islamabad would consist of twelve-storey (two basements or ground floors plus 10 storeys) self-contained building having covered area of 66,893 square meters.

The IT Park would be developed with state-of-the-art infrastructure and allied facilities for IT companies with financial assistance of Exim Bank, Korea, he added.

The project, he said would be completed in 30 months with the total cost of Rs 13.72 billion.

Syed Amin Ul Haque said that the project for establishing IT Park in Islamabad was linked with the steps for fulfilling Digital Pakistan Vision which not only mitigate the shortage of infrastructure for IT sector rather also facilitate technology transfer through industry and academia linkage, support technology commercialization, links tertiary education and production, promote research and development and enhances IT exports and the industry competitiveness.

He said that the Islamabad IT Project was expected to provide over five thousand direct and indirect employment opportunities during construction phase and about 15,000 employment opportunities to IT experts, students and persons concerning industry after its completion.

He said that similar type of IT Park would also be established in Karachi soon.

The minister for IT said that Islamabad IT Park initially provided office space to around 120 startups and small to medium enterprises and other ancillary facilities like testing laboratories, class rooms, industry academia linkage center, and auditorium etc.

He noted that presently total number of software technology parks (STPs) in Pakistan was 15 including three in Islamabad, two in Rawalpindi, eight in Lahore and one each in Karachi and Gilgit.

He said, “We want to establish software technology parks in small and big cities of the country”, adding that Ministry of IT’s attached department, Pakistan Software Export Board was working to establish software technology parks in Quetta, Gwadar, Faisalabad, Bannu, Swat, Mardan, Sukkur and Hyderabad.

He that said Rs 31 billion had been invested over the last two and a half years to improve connectivity across the country.

The minister said whilst penetration of 4G services was being increased, the 5G wireless technology would be introduced by the end of this year.

He said Ministry of IT and Telecommunication was committed for provision of telecom service across the country including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB).

He said that said that Pakistan's IT export remittances had surged to $1.70 billion at a growth rate of 45.80% during July-April of FY 2020-21, in comparison to US $1.17 billion during same period last financial year.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of Republic of Korea Suh Sangpyo said that IT Park constructions were key projects of the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).

In the year 2019, a Framework agreement was being signed with Pakistan to approve US $500 million of EDCF loans that would give financial space for the construction of infrastructure in Pakistan. “Today we witness together a tangible outcome of EDCF projects,” he added.

He said, “It is very positive to see that revolutionary steps are being taken in IT and Telecommunication sector of Pakistan and Islamabad IT Park will prove to be an important milestone for Ministry of IT and Pakistani skilled persons.”