The World Telecommunication and Information Society (WTISD) is celebrated worldwide on May 17 every year to mark creation of International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) and ICT Industry globally marked the WTISD – 2016 with this year’s theme “ICT Entrepreneurship for Social Impact”.
Minister of State for IT & Telecom Ms. Anusha Rehman attended a ceremony held here in connection with WTISD which was also attended by Minister for Finance, Mr. Ishaq Dar as chief guest, Minister of State Health Services, Saira afzal Tarar, Legislators, Secretary IT, Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and CEO Ignite (Formerly National ICT R&D Fund) Islamabad, Dr. Syed Ismail Shah, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and senior staff of Mobile Phone Operators, industry’s experts, government officials, media- persons and students and teachers of ICT for Girls programme.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Information Technology and Telecom, Anusha Rehman said that IT sector has potential to contribute 1.5 percent in the GDP. She said that her ministry has taken initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and employment in the IT sector. CEO Mobilink, Microsoft and MD Bait-ul-Mall also spoke on the occasion to highlight the importance ICT centric entrepreneurship for economic growth.
The Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the government wants to accelerate IT revolution in the country. If the economic development continues to grow, Pakistan will soon become the 18th largest economy in the World. Moreover, the establishment of intellectual property rights (IPR) has also increased the trust of investors.
Earlier speaking on the occasion Dr. Ismail Shah, Chairman PTA and CEO Ignite (Formerly National ICT R&D Fund) acquainted the audience with rapid growth of telecom sector, increased interest of investors in ICT centric products and services due to 3G/4G spectrum auction that has enabled the telecom operators to offer better mobile broadband services.
