Aitizaz Hassan

The business community and industrialists of Pakistan need fair access to the internet for the economic development of the country, WealthPK reports. The population of Pakistan is 30% less than that of the United States but it is getting 178 times less Internet Protocol (IP) per person as compared to the latter. Similarly, most of the populated countries are treated unfairly according to their IP addresses.

Heng Lu, the candidate for the executive council of Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) and chief of LARUS, a global IP solution firm, told WealthPK that APNIC has a responsibility to serve the entire Asia Pacific region fairly. This region is very diverse with 56 economies including Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Philippines and Singapore among others. Every country and every citizen should be treated equally and provided with internet access.

However, he said that in the past APNIC has not treated every economy fairly. Like most countries, Pakistan is suffering from high inflation and other economic pressures. It is impacting businesses in the country. During his recent visit to Pakistan, Mr Lu held a meeting with Federal Minister for IT and Telecom Syed Aminul Haque and Director General of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) Dr Muharram Khan at an event hosted in Islamabad by the Number Resource Society (NRS), a global non-profit organisation advocating for unlimited, free, accountable and accessible internet for all.

“Mr Haque and Dr Khan both made the point that Pakistan must have its fair access to internet resources to ensure that further economic development can be facilitated. It is clear to me that Pakistan has a clear vision of how to maximise the internet for economic growth. We have also agreed that it is important to treat all economies across the Asia Pacific fairly and equally,” said Mr Lu. He pledged to help in providing equal internet opportunity to all through LARUS and APNIC. His firm LARUS has a long track record of providing IP addresses to Pakistan and many other economies globally at cost-effective prices.

“LARUS is proud of the role it has played in helping Pakistan’s businesses to boost their connectivity for economic development. During my recent visit to Pakistan, I met hundreds of business representatives, who told me that they needed more access to IP addresses. I told them that LARUS would assist them. LARUS is able to help because we have access to the free market of IP addresses, which provides a cheaper and flexible alternative,” he said.

Mr Lu said that they should strive for all economies in the world to have the same level of internet access as the United States of America. Their achievement should be celebrated and used as a model for everyone. He has been championing “one world, one internet” for many years because internet access is now a fundamental human right. China’s contribution to digitalisation is significant. It is essential that China, Pakistan, Vietnam and all other economies in Asia Pacific reach the same level of internet access as America.

“I advocate close cooperation among governments, regulators, the business community and the global internet registration system to maximise growth and development. The Regional Internet Registry (RIR) system, which includes APNIC, needs to be modernised and adapted to allow every country to maximise its potential,” said Mr Lu.

He is contesting for the APNIC executive council with a pledge to reduce membership fee by at least 30% to hold businesses during these difficult times. He vowed to relocate APNIC from Brisbane, Australia, to Singapore to serve the needs of the whole region in a befitting manner. “By relocating APNIC to Singapore, I believe underserved economies and communities will have a stronger voice. The relocation will also allow us to place APNIC on a stronger legal footing and provide better scrutiny, accountability and reduce membership services to businesses,” he told WealthPK.

APNIC is an open, member-based and not-for-profit organization. Its primary role is to distribute and manage IP addresses and autonomous system numbers in 56 economies of the Asia Pacific region.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk