KARACHI, July 6: An investment of $350 to $400 million dollars is expected in information technology in Pakistan during the next 16 months.

This was stated by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rehman while speaking as chief guest at the Convocation 2002 of The City-Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) Pakistan in a local hotel on Saturday.

He said the investments had begun to come in and in the last 14 to 16 months we have had over $200 million of investment in the information technology area from the private sector alone.

Prof Atta said the $ 350 to 400 investment expected in Pakistan during the next 16 months in the IT sector would for the first time overtake the investment in the textile sector.

He stated that information technology offered tremendous opportunities for the youngsters in the country.

He enumerated the advancement made in Pakistan in this field during the past two years or so.

Prof Atta made it clear that human resource was the real wealth of a country.

He called for the provision of education to the youngsters of the country and fostering their talents so that their abilities could be utilized for national development.

The minister also stressed that our youngsters be provided with the opportunities to serve the country instead of their going abroad and serving other countries.

Later, he awarded degrees of BSc (Honours) in computing to 54 graduates, and higher diplomas in computing and IT to some 68 students.

Prof Atta also applauded the City School’s initiative of teaming up with APIIT Malaysia to form a high quality educational institution in Pakistan.

He told the graduating students to continue to work hard and keep on acquiring knowledge.

The minister also told the youngsters to serve the country with the best of their abilities.

Ian Steel of APIIT Malaysia praised Prof Atta for taking immense interest in education.

He also assured of continuing support of the UK’s Staffordshire University to Pakistan in the realms of information technology education.

Ian also told the graduating students that they are getting the same degree which the Staffordshire University students would get at their convocation.

Farzana Firoz, Managing Director of City School, presented the welcome address.

On the occasion she spoke about the need for quality education in the country.

Ambreen Ahmed clinched the first position in BSc (Honours) in computing and Omer Rashid Puri secured the second position and Mohsin Ali Qureshi stood third.

RS7 BILLION: The allocation for science and technology in the budget for the fiscal year 2002-03 is more than Rs7 billion.