ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: Minister for Information Technology (IT) Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Tuesday said that the government was keen to develop quality human resource capable of assuming key position in the flourishing telecom sector of the country.

“Training of human resource that corresponds to the industry requirements, is the basis of our policies and we are ready to finance any demand-driven training programme at any level recommended by the industry,” he said during a meeting with a delegation led by Nokia’s senior vice-president and general manager services network, Bosco Novak, who met the minister here to brief him about the future expansion of Nokia projects in Pakistan.

The minister said the government was aware of the requirements of the telecom industry regarding the shortage of top-quality human resource and it would welcome any proposal or project suggested by the industry to finance training programmes at premier universities and institutions of the country.

He said the government had also set up a well-structured research and development fund of about $50 million to promote high-level training and research in collaboration with the academia, the telecom and IT industry.

He said the country’s telecom sector had registered an impressive growth and the sector was poised to touch 30 per cent tele density within the next couple of years.

There was still enough room for expansion of the sector, which provided an ideal opportunity for companies like Nokia to contribute their share in the growth, he said.

Mr Bosco Novak told the minister that his company had already set up its operations in Pakistan, while they had solid and tangible plans to come to Pakistan in a big way.

“Pakistan is ideally suited to our development projects, as we see a strong base and potential for growth,” he said.

He said his company was also interested in starting training programmes in collaboration with universities to build the human resource required by the industry. “We have already done this in various other countries, and we would be proud to team up with the government in any effort to build human resource and expertise required by the industry,” he added.

IT Secretary Farrakh Qayyum, Advisor to IT minister, Dr. Aamir Matin, member telecom, Nooruddin Baqai, Nokia’s Middle East Africa Networks vice-president, Adel Hattab, and Nokia’s country director Syed Veqarul Islam also attended the meeting.