ISLAMABAD: Pakistan to host next IT ministers’ summit
By Our Reporter
ISLAMABAD, March 26: The participants of the 3rd IT Ministers’ Summit, which concluded in Bahrain on Saturday, awarded Pakistan the right to host the next moot in eaOver 30 ministers of information technology from the Asian and Middle Eastern regions will take part in the summit. According to a statement received here on Saturday, input from the Pakistani delegation led by Minister for Information Technology Awais Leghari was acknowledged by other delegations as the most relevant and practical. The government’s policies to deregulate and liberalize the telecom sector in the country were highly appreciated in the summit.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said information sharing was just the first step in developing closer relationships between countries. However, in order to transform information sharing into something more meaningful, we must devise mechanisms that will allow us to collaborate in mutually- beneficial projects, he added.
Pakistan’s proposals of setting up a permanent secretariat to manage the annual summit and to implement the action items identified in the Bahrain Declaration were well received, and a committee had been formed to follow up these proposals.
The Pakistani delegation was also instrumental in breaking an impasse in the drafting of the declaration.
Pakistan Software Export Board Managing Director Dr Aamir Matin said a number of countries at the summit showed immense interest in Pakistani IT solutions in the areas of homeland security such as machine readable passports, border control systems and computerized national identity cards.
“Pakistani IT solutions developed by the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and others are an ideal low- cost answer to the requirements of countries in the region,” he added. He said countries showing interest in these products included Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Palestine.
Mr Matin said the next summit to be held in the first quarter of 2006 would allow Pakistani IT companies to showcase their e-government solutions.
