ISLAMABAD: The Telephone Industries of Pakistan (TIP) has been removed from a list of government departments that are to be privatised, Minister for Information Technology (IT) Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said on Wednesday.

At a press conference on his ministry’s performance in the last year, Mr Siddiqui said they are also speaking with the producers of various cellular mobile phones, mostly Chinese, and “encouraging them to use [TIP]to start assembly or manufacturing handsets in Pakistan.”

Mr Siddiqui touched on various matters, from IT exports rising to $4 billion a year to Pakistan becoming the first country in the region to test 5G broadband and an exhibition presenting entrepreneurs’ ideas to the outside world starting Sept 17.

He said the exhibition would highlight the work entrepreneurs have done in the field of IT.

The ministry is also moving rapidly towards introducing a paperless environment in government offices by the end of the year, he said.

Shares details of his ministry’s performance in the last year

In response to a question, Mr Siddiqui blamed the previous government for failing to inform cellular operators of the renewal of their licences at least a year in advance. He said the matter is in court and will be decided soon.

Cellular operators Jazz and Telenor agreed to pay $291m and $224.6m following court orders last week.

To another question, he said the government is holding talks with the management of Etisalat on the payment of the outstanding $800m.

He also spoke about the government’s initiatives for the youth in IT, saying that universities provide 25,000 IT students every year but roughly 5,000 find work.

“The IT ministry will soon offer an online certification course that will help students find recognition as well as work at home and abroad,” he said.

According to the minister, until June this year, IT and IT enabled services export remittances surged to $902m at a growth rate of 8.2pc, whereas the Pakistan Software Export Board estimated that total IT and IT enabled services exports stood at $4.1bn, including to $500m earned by micro, small and medium enterprises.

The briefing was also informed that the number of IMEIs registered since Jan 15, 2019, was 44m, resulting in approximately Rs5bn to the national exchequer.

Another press conference will be called in three months for an update on the ministry’s work.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2019