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NATIONAL SCI-TECH SCENE
Pakistan, Korea agree to cooperate in IT
Pakistan and South Korea have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation for forging joint partnerships in the fields of information technology and telecommunication.
“Our government is keen to forge a constructive relationship with Seoul to explore the possibilities of launching joint projects in the fields of IT and telecom,” said Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari in a meeting with South Korean Ambassador Jeon Bou-Guan.
The minister told the diplomat that Korean giant Hyundai Information Systems was working with the State Bank of Pakistan in a multi-million dollars project to automate the latter’s core functioning while similar contracts in the e-government area were also being readied by his ministry for execution.
Pakistani companies with relevant background should team up with the Korean firms to participate in such projects, he added. The minister said he would visit South Korea in the near future to develop these ideas in conjunction with the Korean IT industry in the backdrop of a memorandum of understanding signed between the Korean IT association and Pakistan’s software houses association during President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Seoul last year.
Mr Leghari said he was keen to meet and interact with major IT firms in the public and private sector to explore possibilities for launching joint partnerships in the production and manufacturing of IT and telecom products.
He said Pakistan was also keen to learn from the experiences of the public and private enterprises in Korea. “Pakistan can also draw on the expertise and human resource possessed by the Korean companies in launching e-government in Pakistan.”
The minister invited the Korean IT companies to set up development centres in Pakistan given the huge potential in the areas of investment and return following the deregulation of the telecom sector.
“The deregulation will mark the beginning of quality services at affordable prices in a competitive atmosphere,” he said, adding tele-density ratio in Pakistan stood at 2.7 per cent which was likely to jump up to 7-8 per cent with the issuance of about 20 million new connections in the next four to five years.
The Korean envoy appreciated the efforts of the government to expand telecommunication network in the country. He said South Korea with annual IT exports totalling $15 billion had already partnered successfully with the public and private sector companies in Malaysia and China and Korean businessmen were expanding their networks in the two countries.
Institutes in Northern Areas
Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has asked the representatives of European Commission to establish agricultural and technical institutes in the Northern Areas.
The minister was talking to head of European Commission for Development Michael Dale who called on him here last week. The institutes are aimed at providing educational facilities in these sectors and basic vocational training, the minister added.
Mr Sherpao said the government was working towards provision of basic facilities of life to the people of Northern Areas and focusing on improving education, basic health facilities and employment opportunities for the people of these areas of the country.
The minister appreciated the efforts of Mr Dale in this regard and said: “The European Commission can be an important partner in progress of these areas.”
He endorsed the idea of setting up of animal farms in the mountainous areas and asked Mr Dale to look into the details so that, if feasible, the project be launched as soon as possible.
“It is not possible for the people to have large farms and thus they rely mainly on fruits and farming for their food and livelihood owing to the topographic profile of the Northern Areas,” he added.
He also stressed the need for setting up of small fruit preservation plants in the area to help preserve the food for local consumption and export. Mr Dale apprised the minister of the collaboration with Pakistani government for development in the Northern Areas.
He also briefed the minister on the EC’s various ongoing projects in the areas. “It is the government’s duty to provide basic medical, educational and vocational facilities in the mountainous terrain where the communication links with other parts of the country are usually served owing to land sliding and snow,” Mr Sherpao said.
He said the Northern Areas of Pakistan have some of the world’s most beautiful sceneries in the world. Tourism in the area could also be promoted for creating many economic activities and job opportunities, he added. — Sci-tech World Report
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