The long pending project of IT Media City has finally been approved to help boost the IT industry in Pakistan, said Haroon Raza, Minister for IT Sindh.

In a meeting, the Minister said that the project, spread over 200 acres is going to be a key stimulant for the IT industry of Pakistan which can serve as an economic engine for the country. “The project will be launched soon when it is the right time and we can attract more value,” he said.

He said that the plan will commence within a year for which funds are being released this year going towards master plan and the expression of interest (EOI) will be published soon. He said that the IT Ministry has come up with a vision that ‘every household must have use of computer’. He said in a world of growing computer technology, this vision would not only enhance knowledge and exposure of our common man but also increase the industry itself.

He stressed that given such good talent in IT, we need to explore, promote and use our local soft wares and IT solutions. The speakers present at the meeting stressed the importance of the private sector, which can bring significant revenue for the government by this industry.

Dr Mashood Qazi, President of the Pakistan ICT Consortium said that in order to increase our exports we need to train all our commercial attaches to promote the IT potential in Pakistan. He also said that the gap between the academia and the industry must be filled and some legislation must be made to strengthen the industry. Quoting an example another private IT businessman said that the increase in customs duty for hardware must be told in advance to the stakeholders and reviewed.

“We have delivered IT projects like e-policing and the District Administration Sukkur project with the help of local expertise. More projects like the video conferencing project, civil hospital project, and others will be delivered soon,” Haroon Raza said.

He stressed that the industry should curb illegal practices and privacy related issues in the software area. He said that the people of Pakistan have been losing their genuine market share and interest of multinationals due to the use of illegal software. Only with fair business practices and the right amount of hard work can we use the industry to its full potential, Raza said. The News