Asia-Pacific economies: APICTA chief says Pakistan’s IT sector ‘on the right path’

ISLAMABAD: APICTA and P@SHA’s teams came together for an exclusive press conference prior to the final award ceremony for APICTA 2022.

Asia Pacific Information Communication Technology Alliance (APICTA) held its APICTA Awards in the lush green foothills of Islamabad. Pakistan had won the bid in early 2022 to host the APICTA and the teams had been at work since then.

As the host, Pakistan’s IT industry (P@SHA)welcomed delegates and judges from 16 economies who brought a whole new perspective to collaboration, business activity and creativity in the strengthening IT Industry of the Asia Pacific region.

Chairman APICTA, Stan Singh, repeatedly highlighted the fact that he sees a lot of potential in Pakistan as a country and in its IT industry, and that he is ever so proud for casting his vote in favour of Pakistan to host APICTA 2022.

“When I compare Pakistan’s IT ecosystem with that of the other more developed ones, I can comfortably say that you are on the right path. I have found the start-up eco-system to be impressive and the talent pool limitless. Keep working the way you are for reaching any landmark that you wish to. If you were to ask me to mark Pakistan on a checklist of 1-10, I would say that Pakistan gets 10 on 10.”

Vice Chairman APICTA, Fulvio Inserra spoke on the need for a long-term policy framework for digital eco-system that is above any political change to ensure continuous success for Pakistan’s IT industry. “Investors need to see the stability and ROI and that is only possible when uncertainty is done away with. Progressive policies need to be cast in stone for industry’s steady and long-term development.”

Chief Judge APICTA 2022, Professor Dr. Shoab A. Khan, stated,” I am proud of all Pakistani teams to have stood shoulder to shoulder with their foreign counterparts. My friends and colleagues who were assigned the responsibility of judging witnessed a well-fought-out competition and faced a tough challenge in shortlisting only a few as winners. I feel that all have won and most of all it is a great win for Pakistan.” He elaborated on the strict parameters that were set for all judges regarding punctuality and conformity to given paradigms. With no room for non-compliance, a zero-tolerance policy was followed.

Newly elected Chairman P@SHA, Zohaib Khan, was grateful to the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication for their immense support and continuous partnership in enabling all teams to ensure the execution as planned. He thanked all the sponsors, facilitators, PSEB, and especially the 16 visiting economies for making APICTA 2022 Pakistan such a major success. “I am especially grateful to the Asia Pacific economies that made Pakistan their destination for APICTA 2022”

Badar Khushnood, Convener and EXCO APICTA and former Chairman P@SHA, declared it to be a dream come true for him and his team. “I want all the visiting foreign teams going back home to carry positive beautiful Pakistan in their hearts; I would also like to see their continuous collaboration and engagement with the talent, start-ups and businesses in Pakistan. Through APICTA, I look forward to Pakistan’s potential getting empowered for a global role.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022