World Summit on Information Society hails Pakistan’s efforts in IT and telecom sector: minister
GENEVA- The Secretariat, World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), has appreciated Pakistan’s efforts for providing support to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and its organisation in crafting a shared understanding and vision of the information society.
The acknowledgement came from Pierre Gagne, executive director, WSIS Secretariat, who met federal Information Technology Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari here on July 4th, 2003.
The WSIS chief briefed the minister on the preparations of the World Summit planned to be held in Geneva from December 10 to 12 and extended to him an invitation for President General Pervez Musharraf to attend the summit.
He said 15 heads of state had already confirmed their participation in this first-ever heads of states summit on Information Society.
Pierre Gagne thanked the minister for Pakistan’s active participation in the preparatory phase of the summit that “would address a broad range of themes concerning the Information Society and adopt a declaration of principles and plan of action, addressing the whole range of issues related to the Information Society.”
Awais told the WSIS chief about the government’s efforts for providing telecom and IT infrastructure to the masses.
“Pakistan, with the basic IT and telecom infrastructure in place, is all set to enter into the information age,” Awais said.
He said that the accelerating convergence between telecommunications, broadcasting, multimedia and information and communication technologies (ICTs) were driving new products and services, as well as ways of conducting business and commerce.
He also spoke about the government’s plans to open up telecom sector and investment opportunities it offered to the potential foreign investors.
Awais also highlighted the government plans to provide access to information and knowledge, capacity building, human resources development, education, and training for the people of Pakistan.
The WSIS chief reiterated that the World Summit on the Information Society would provide a unique opportunity to all the key stakeholders to assemble at a high-level gathering and develop a better understanding of this revolution and its impact on the international community.
He said the aim of the summit was to bring together heads of state, executive heads of the United Nations agencies, industry leaders, non-governmental organisations, media representatives and civil society at a single high-level event.
The summit is being held under the patronage of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan with the International Telecommunication Union taking the lead role, in cooperation with other UN agencies.
Later, Awais Leghari, accompanied by PTCL Chairman Akhtar Ahmad Bajwa, visited SwissCom Customer Care Centre in Lausanne and attended a briefing given to him by Yannick Le Moigne, head, Customer Care at the SwissCom.
The minister was also briefed on the international bandwidth connectivity, provision of broadband services, including ADSL and enterprise solutions for corporate customers.
The minister showed keen interest in the range of services provided by SwissCom to its customers.
During the World Radio Conference, Awais also met the US ambassador who was accompanied by high-ranking officials from the US State Department, Department of Commerce, Federal Communication Commission and Ministry of Defence.
Awais Leghari thanked the ambassador for supporting Pakistan’s delegation on important issues like extension in regulated period for Paksat and specific spectrum management issues during the conference.
He informed the US delegation that Pakistan was planning to organise an international telecom conference later this year to provide an opportunity for foreign investors to know more about telecom deregulation policy and investment opportunities in Pakistan.
The US ambassador assured the minister she would extend full cooperation in planning the event and attracting major US companies to the conference.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:7/5/2003
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