Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday announced plans to develop a sustainable and modern Information and Communication System in Pakistan, aimed at positioning the country as a regional hub for the information technology (IT) sector.
Chairing a review meeting on the development of the IT training ecosystem in Pakistan, the prime minister emphasized the importance of equipping youth with modern, market-driven skills to support local transformation. He stressed that training programmes must be designed to ensure employment opportunities for participants.
Shehbaz also underscored the need to provide competent IT professionals to local companies, enabling them to meet international standards and contribute to foreign exchange earnings. He directed that clear terms of reference be drafted for consultancy services related to the training system.
He directed the Federal Education Ministry, Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Neotech to work together with the IT Ministry to impart trainings in schools, colleges and universities level. The IT training should be ensured in summer camps during the current summer vacations, he said.
The meeting was informed that recently the trained Pakistani students made the country proud by winning the first three positions, not only in China, but other competitions also, which was contested by 200,000 students from across the world.
The prime minister was briefed that a target had been set to give training to 50,000 trainers in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad, keeping in view modern technology and contemporary requirements.
Separately, the prime minister met with a United Arab Emirates (UAE) delegation, led by Deputy Minister Competitiveness and Knowledge Exchange Abdulla Nasser Lootah, and expressed his desire to benefit from the UAE's experiences of its modern management system.
Shehbaz said that Pakistan had taken steps such as digitisation and paperless economy to improve its administrative structure. In addition, a faceless customs system has also been implemented, said a separate press release issued by the PMO Media Wing.
On the occasion, Lootah said that the UAE was happy to exchange experiences and information with Pakistan. Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz and Minister Lootah witnessed the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries.
Under this MoU, the two countries will cooperate in improving government performance by exchanging knowledge and mutual experience, guidance and development models in the fields of development planning, public sector reforms, human resource, urban planning, and science and technology.
(WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)
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