Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Thursday claimed that Pakistan will achieve new benchmark of the highest GDP growth rate of nine years in the current financial year (2016-17). This he stated while addressing at an agreement signing ceremony among Microsoft, Ministries of Capital Administration and Development Division and Information Technology here.
Under the agreement, 107 schools of Islamabad Capital Territory will be computerised. The finance minister said Pakistan will be converted into digital country, and signing of the agreement is a good omen in this regard.
"When the incumbent government under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came into power, nobody could think about that Pakistan would become part of the G20. However 12 years down the line it is estimated that Pakistan will be among the G20, and Canada and Italy would be behind Pakistan," the finance minister added. "It is not our estimation but that of international organisations and experts," he further said.
The finance minister said that in the next 12 months, Pakistan will be a load shedding-free country. "When we took over, the country was confronted with four challenges including economy, energy, extremism and digital education. Our main focus is to take country forward to a high growth trajectory and we are already 8 years high when closed the last financial year and are just three months away from the close of the current financial year and will have a new benchmark of nine years high of GDP growth rate," the minister added.
Dar, while welcoming the project and the signing of the two MoUs, praised the efforts of MOITT, CADD, USF and Microsoft for their contribution to the promotion of ICT amongst girls from rural areas. He said that in line with the vision of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, progress is being made to build a digital and financially inclusive Pakistan. He said that world will continue to become more IT-driven in years to come and the government is focused on taking all necessary measures to equip Pakistani human resources for this transformation. He also emphasised that projects such as these will ensure the self-sustainability and self-dependency of women in the country.
He said that major economic achievements have been made over the last three-and-a-half-year. He also stated that the government has made significant progress on the 4E's which were part of PML-N's manifesto for the 2013 general elections, ie, energy, economy, elimination of extremism, and education/social sector.
Ishaq Dar said that all-out efforts are being made to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said that the government is fully focused on the implementation of the manifesto of PML-N for the development of the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman said the government is focused to provide modern facilities in schools. This project is a step to empower women. She said, "Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, we are heading towards socio-economic progress."
The minister of state for IT & telecom appreciated the co-operation of FDE, Microsoft and USF for fully supporting this initiative. She said that the project will improve the lives of many young girls by equipping them with ICT skills.
She further said, "ICT is the lever of economic progress. We are using this lever to empower the girls from the marginalised sections of society. Through this initiative, we aim to help approximately 33,000 female students enrolled in these institutions, by making them computer literate and bringing them at par with students elsewhere in the world. This programme for girls will help reduce the gender disparity at large."
Through technological capacity building, the girls under this programme shall prove to be an asset for the economic engine of the country, she added.
In initial phase, Microsoft has upgraded 50 IT labs of Bait-ul-Mal with state-of-the-art facilities to impart the latest computer knowledge to girls across the country. The programme comprises 4Cs including computing, coding, communication and coaching. In the first phase, 50 labs were equipped where around 5,000 girls benefited.
"The programme, ICT for Girls, has opened doors of IT and modern knowledge for future builders of Pakistan to become entrepreneurs and contributors to national development," said Anusha Rehman.
Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said state-of-the-art facilities are being provided at Islamabad's schools.
The signing ceremony was held at Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoITT) where two memorandums of understanding were signed. The first MoU was signed between Universal Service Fund (USF)/MOITT and the Federal Directorate of Education for establishment of computer labs in girls' schools in rural areas of Islamabad capital territory. Another MoU was signed between USF and Microsoft for the training of over 90 teachers by Microsoft for these computer labs. The USF will appoint the teachers for these labs.
CEO USF, Haaris M Chaudhry, and General Manager Microsoft, Miss Leila Serhan signed the MoU.
The USF board of directors, chaired by minister of state for IT & telecom, approved this special project for girls in collaboration with FDE and Microsoft. Under this project, state-of-the-art ICT facilities and trained human resources will be provided to the selected girls' schools at primary, middle and secondary levels in rural areas of Islamabad capital territory, in addition to operational and maintenance support for 3 years to these schools. This special project aims to benefits the girls at these schools by fostering digital coding skills and building early stage aptitude for ICT related careers.