ISLAMABAD, May 13: The reforms introduced by the government in IT sector would help retain investors’ confidence, the Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Attaur Rehman said.

He was speaking at a conference on “Computerisation of Languages in Pakistan,” organized by Microsoft Pakistan in collaboration with the ministry and National Language Authority (NLA) on Monday.

He expressed the hope that Bill Gates of Microsoft Corporation would accept his invitation to visit Pakistan.

The minister appreciated Microsoft’s initiative for developing and computerization of languages in Pakistan on national level.

The conference was organized with an objective to create awareness among researchers of languages in the country and to help local software companies and developers to understand how they could develop multi-lingual applications through Windows.

Mr Jawad Rehman, the country manager, Microsoft Pakistan said the Microsoft had integrated and adapted a multi-lingual environment focussed at development and localization efforts for Pakistan.

The software developers will now be able to improve the functionality and quality of typography available to them here and pave the way for research work into advanced computer uses, highlighting how Microsoft products could provide a quality solution for the languages spoken in Pakistan.

Mr Paul Nelson, Development Lead-Typography Department, Microsoft Corporation, a specialists in linguistic development said “Unicode” system provided the foundation for all of Pakistan’s languages to participate in the information age.

Since “Windows XP” and “Office XP” were based on Unicode, it was possible for computer users to take advantage of that foundation right away.

In addition, OpenType, font technology made it possible for Pakistani font developers to provide quality “Nastaleeq” font solutions for users of Microsoft products.

Prominent speakers and linguistic specialists including Dr Humayun Mian, chairman Punjab IT Board (PITB), Saeed Ahmad, Director Urdu Informatics Division NLA, Dr Mohammad Afzal, Professor and coordinator Urdu and Regional Languages Software Development Forum S&T, Dr Sarmad Hussain, head Centre for Research in Urdu Language Processing, FAST, Dr Khawar Zia, Director Beaconhouse Informatics and Kashif Hisam, Pak Data Management Services highlighted the work undertaken for the standardization of Urdu and other local languages by the government.

Research on national standards on Urdu software development was also presented on the occasion.

APP ADDS: The ministry has launched a Rs29 million project for Standardization of Pakistani Software Industry.