Yasir Rashid

Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque said the government is promoting research and development activities to encourage entrepreneurship. He stated this while speaking at the awarding ceremony of the first Hameed and Azra Awards in the field of quality academic research in Pakistan organised to recognise and honour services of young researchers and scholars.

Aminul Haque said that cellular phone companies operating in Pakistan were charged with a tax at the rate of 2%, and out of that, 1.5% was used to improve connectivity of under-served areas, while the remaining 0.5% amount was utilised on research and development.

The IT ministry was keen to encourage entrepreneurship and promote research and development in institutions of higher education, he said and assured that his ministry was ready to provide its all-out support for any such initiative.

The federal minister said that youth account for a large proportion of Pakistan’s population and that his ministry was focusing on their skill development. “Over 3.1 million youth have so far been trained in modern and digital technology by the ministry,” he added.

The number of people having mobile phones in the country has risen from 160 million to 195 million in previous three years, the minister said. Currently, 88% of Pakistan’s population have mobile phones, and the IT ministry has set a target of equipping the entire population with smartphones by 2030, he added.

The government has facilitated mobile phone manufacturing at local level to ensure universal digital connectivity and availability of low-cost smartphones to every citizen. He added that 28 companies, including some international brands, had started local production.

Aminul Haque said that national incubation centres had been established in major cities to support entrepreneurs and start-ups, which played a pivotal role in swift growth of start-ups, and now a number of IT-based companies were not only attracting investment of millions of dollars but also facilitating citizens in various fields of life.

The minister said IT exports reached $2.62 billion with 47% growth in the fiscal year 2021-22 and target for the next year was $5 billion, adding his ministry was working tirelessly in different fields of IT to enhance digital skills of youth to achieve the target.

He congratulated organisers of the award on initiating a remarkable step to encourage and motivate teachers and scholars, and suggested including the field of information technology in the awards as IT was the fastest growing modern technology.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk