BEIJING, March 4: Pakistan and China have bright prospects to undertake joint venture for the development of IT industry, said a senior official of China Centre of Information Industry Development (CCID).

“Pakistan may have its first choice to develop a partnership in IT industry,” he said while talking to newsmen here Monday.

He said various Chinese software companies were prepared to form business links with their Pakistani counterparts in software development networking, online business and website development.

He lauded the steps taken by Pakistan for the promotion of IT education and English language skill.

He hoped that Pakistani software companies would come forward to explore China’s huge market and establish cooperation with the local hardware makers.

China’s software industry, driven by the nation’s robust economic growth and the strong demand on IT spending, is emerging as one of the world’s top software export bases, analysts said.

According to the sources, Pakistan can also explore the possibility of opening software training centres and engineer training schools in China. The country needs at least 120,000 entry-level software engineers per year, yet less than 60,000 are available at present.

Pakistan software companies can establish their business in China with a meagre investment of less than a million dollar, making their routs in China’s multi-dollars software market.

China seems to have outshined many countries in high-tech as software exports were close to dollar 1 billion in 2001. It has recently set up 50 software technology parks that house both local and multinational software companies. It has also big overseas talent pool.

Beijing’s four specialized parks contributed greatly to the capital city’s economic development last year and will be even more attractive to foreigners in the coming years. There is one Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, which is a hub for research and development centres of international enterprises and has become a trade centre for domestic and foreign high-tech products, said Beijing Vice-Mayor Zhang Mao.

The other park named Beijing and Technological Development Area (BDA) has attracted nearly 1,000 overseas-funded enterprises and it is regarded as a manufacturing bases for multinational companies and high-tech manufacturers.

According to Li Zhao, director of the Beijing Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee the four parks are more lucrative to overseas high-tech operators.

Under China’s commitment to the WTO, overseas high-tech operators will not only enjoy preferential policies, but also conduct business in a fair and competitive environment, Li added.

The Pakistani companies may contact Pakistan Embassy in Beijing on Fax: 0086-10-65322715/65322872 seeking further information to develop contacts with their Chinese counterparts. —APP