Plan for setting up mobile phone making plants devised

The government has devised a plan for setting up mobile phone manufacturing plants in Pakistan as some companies, including Huawei, have been offered to establish plants to promote local manufacturing, besides creating job opportunities. While addressing 'Huawei Mobile Pakistan Summit' here on Monday, Minister for Information Technology Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the government has allocated land in Haripur where mobile phone manufacturers would be allotted land.
The minister further said the government wanted to digitalise Pakistan, adding the country would require 0.2 million graduates qualified in modern technology in the next few years. Mobile phone would become an important tool in banking and education in future, he added.
Siddiqui said the information technology in Pakistan was growing and it had potential to expand even more in future.
He said, "IT and telecommunication sector in Pakistan evolved impressively. Today is the age of information technology (IT) and it is through IT that we can transform our population into an asset. We have to take Pakistan towards development through information technology."
Siddiqui said that dynamically evolving information and communication technologies (ICT) sector holds crucial importance globally as it is one of the key sectors in terms of powering economies and driving efficiencies.
The minister said the ICT entrepreneurs, start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were the country's future. He said the government was committed to penetration of broadband in the country so that every Pakistani could get benefit from it.
"We need to keep our pace with the world to end unemployment. Improve our IT education standard as more than 25,000 IT graduates are being produced each year but only a few thousands get job in the market," Siddiqui added.
He said it was the technology and quality education which had helped in minimising poverty. Many countries in the region have gone far ahead in the area of IT education. "Our main task is to assist all ministries in the field of IT. We need to encourage those Pakistanis who achieved excellence while working abroad," he added.
Replying to a question, he said that reshuffle in the cabinet was a routine process that took place according to the requirements.
Later, talking to the media persons, Siddiqui said the Cyber Security Policy had been devised and an authority would be formulated under that policy. He said that a comprehensive cyber security policy, using a multi-stakeholders approach, had also been devised and would be introduced soon.
The cyber security is an issue of global concern and the countries are adopting cyber governance frameworks. Cyberspace is increasingly being used as a vehicle of crime and other social ills which necessitates its security, safety and resilience in order to foster its positive dimensions that include bridging digital divide while influencing every aspect of economic and social activities, he said. He said that a regulatory authority on IT education would also be set up.
The minister appreciated Huawei for organising the mobile summit and said the summit would provide wonderful opportunity to experts of ICT spectrum to interact and promote further development of the sector.
Replying to another question with respect to the political situation, the minister said his party would not support any unconstitutional step.
Vice President Middle East Huawei Sun Xiaofeng said that 5G was coming that year that would change society. He said it would reduce the cost of telecom operators, adding Huawei was the world market leader in information technology and its revenue surpassed $100 billion in 2018.
He said it spent $14.5 billion in research and development and added that Huawei was committed to providing secure network and cooperating with regulator. He said it had invested in Pakistan and created 25,000 jobs.
Economic and Commercial Counsellor Embassy of China Wang Zhihua said that 5G would bring change beyond imagination. He said Huawei was providing solution to the world customers, adding the company had made heavy investment in Pakistan to provide services. He said Pakistan and China had economic cooperation framework and more companies had shown interest to invest in Pakistan.