IT minister stresses need to boost entrepreneurship activities

Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin ul Haque on Tuesday underscored the need for enhancing telecommunication resources to give a boost to business and entrepreneurship activities in the country, APP reported.

He made the remarks while addressing the launch ceremony of the Pakistan National Information and Communication Technology Development White Paper in Islamabad.

The minister said the government was focusing on increasing IT exports from the current 2.6 billion dollars to 5 billion dollars next year.

Pakistani e-commerce platform PriceOye announces $7.9mn in seed funding

He said a comprehensive strategy for the protection of personal data has been devised.

"No IT-related policy will compromise on two key matters that comprise national security and ease of doing business," he said.

Highlighting some of the major ongoing projects by the Ministry of Information Technology, Haque said 5G services will be launched in Pakistan within the next three years while work to digitize the parliament and make it cyber-efficient will also be completed by the next year.

Earlier on Tuesday, PriceOye, a Pakistani e-commerce platform, announced that it has raised $7.9 million in seed funding from a number of investors, including PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

The funding comes at a time Pakistan’s startup sector battles volatility with fundraising announcements coming in tandem with downsizing and closing down of operations.