Aminul Haq dismisses rumours of rifts within MQM-P

IT minister says MQM-P is united under leadership of Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui

KARACHI:

Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecom Syed Aminul Haq has dismissed rumors of rifts within the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) saying that the party is united under the leadership of Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

While interacting with the media after the inauguration of the 21st ITCN Exhibition at the Expo Center on Wednesday, he said that K-Electric has become a money-making machine which has created a state within the state.

"There is a need for K-Electric to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the residents of Karachi. The Bin Qasim Power Plant is closed while K-Electric is getting additional electricity from the national grid," he said.

The minister said that he wanted IT and telecom industry representatives and FBR officials to have a joint meeting with the prime minister to sort out the tax issues of the sector.

Haq said that the IT ministry was working on the 'Digital Pakistan Vision' of the prime minister under which the country's rural areas would be connected to the digital world.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has directed that IT exports should be increased to $15 billion in the next three to four years, Haq said, adding that the IT exports target for the next year is $5billion.

Haq said that work on cyber-security and intelligence-security policies has been completed and eight to ten policies have been approved by the Economic Coordination Committee. He added that his ministry was creating an IT surveillance databank to make Pakistan a crime-free state.

He said that Rs31 billion would be spent on Karachi's IT park which would be spread on seven acres of land.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2022.