Atta offers help to Iraq in information technology (IT) | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Atta offers help to Iraq in information technology (IT)

ISLAMABAD- Federal Minister for Science and Technology Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman said Pakistan will offer assistance in information technology, telecom, and software development to Iraq.

Pakistan, he said, can also be of great assistance for Iraq in software development. He was talking to a delegation from Iraq lead by Iraqi Minister for Housing Ma’an Sarsam who called on him.

Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, who is also the Coordinator General of COMSTECH, said Pakistan is sensitive to the problems and hardships being faced by Iraq. “We will stand by our Muslim brethren during this difficult phase and provide possible assistance in various fields of SAT from the government level as well as from the COMSTECH platform” said the minister. He also pointed out that Pakistan could be of great assistance to Iraq in IT & Telecom sector as Fiber Optic and Switch Gears, which are being manufactured locally.

The Minister said that Pakistan has many outstanding centers in various fields of Science and Technology like Agricultural Bio-technology Centre, Faisalabad, H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry for Pharmaceutical Sciences, GIK and NUST for Engineering Sciences etc. Iraq may identify their corresponding institutions to create institutional linkages and initiate joint research projects from mutual benefit of the two countries.

Secretary IT & Telecom Division Abu Shamim M. Arif said Pakistan is capable of meeting Iraq’s entire requirements in IT & Telecom sector starting from expansion of telecom infrastructure to telephone sets manufacturing. Pakistan can also provide great assistance to Iraq in software development, he added.

Participating in the talks Secretary Science and Technology (S&T) Division Javed Masud said since a lot of construction and building work is to be done in Iraq therefore, Council for Works and Housing Research (CWHR), an organization under the administrative control of MoST can be of great assistance to Iraq.

The Secretary S&T informed the Iraqi Minister that CWHR, a research organization, was established to provide affordable housing for all income groups. It has the capacity to undertake low cost, housing at large scale.
Source: The Nation
Date:4/12/2001