February 23, 2006	Thursday	Muharram 24, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Wednesday Pakistan was geared to be a major destination for software and business process outsourcing.

He was talking to IBM executive Brendon Riley, who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House on Saturday.

Mr Aziz said the thrust of government policies was to place Pakistan on the global map for outsourcing of IT enhanced services. He said with the establishment of SEMEWE 4, Pakistan now had better international connectivity and the government’s plans to set up four more terrestrial links would further improve the situation.

He said that the privatization and opening up of the sector had stimulated phenomenal growth and the number of cellular phone users had risen from 2.5 million to 24 million in a period of three years.