ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that Pakistan had immense potential in the field of digital economy and digital education, stressing the importance of fast data communication modes to explore vast opportunities in such areas.
“Pakistan has high prospects in making strides in the digital economy, digital education and digital finance and is heading in the right direction to cope with the challenges during current pandemic,” the president said in his address at the contract signing of high-speed mobile broadband projects in Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur districts, here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
He said the highway to success was all about information gathering based upon the internet and making it accessible for people and added that the new life pattern during the coronavirus pandemic demanded digitalised systems in areas particularly trade, commerce, education and health.
He lauded the Ministry of Education for adopting new modes of teaching through television to address the challenges faced by students residing in towns with either low-speed internet or with no access.
The president said Pakistan was proud to launch its first public-sector Virtual University in 2004, offering education at relatively low rates as compared to physically attending institutions that had several other overheads.
He said e-commerce and e-trade could prove a stimulus towards the expansion of the economy due to fast financial transactions.
Dr Alvi said State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was working to launch digital payment system across the country in October, expressing confidence that the step would boost business across the board, including of small companies.
He also said that software, being top of the value-addition chain, could prove as an effective marketing tool for products and mentioned the country’s 30 per cent improvement in software development scenario whereas access to information through digitalisation would also provide a platform for women who could thrive economically.
He said digital information could also eliminate ‘elite capture’ of resources and quoted the book ‘Capital and Ideology’ by French economist Thomas Piketty who defined education and health as two top areas of such notorious culture.
He said Pakistan through reforms was resisting the elite capture, however, India, on the contrary, was reported with high inequality from 2014 to 2018, as mentioned by the French economist with full supporting data.
The president stressed proper Right-of-Way policies for the broadband and mobile companies to effectively sort out matters related to the installation of signal towers at people’s land.
He said that the internet could be best used for improving skilled economy and mentioned that as Pakistan required one million nurses in the health sector, online training courses could be a great option instead of brick and mortar education.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin-ul-Haque said that the government was committed to promoting the country’s technological capacity to develop and produce a globally competitive IT sector and industry.
He said the provision of 3G and 4G services to the far-flung areas of Balochistan, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) would also be ensured in the near future.
He said in line with the vision of Digital Pakistan, the Ministry of IT and Telecom through Universal Service Fund was running diverse projects, which were playing an important role in the socio-economic benefit of people.
