The 21st Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2022, recognized as the Oscars of the Asian IT industry being held for the first time in Pakistan, were officially inaugurated on Wednesday by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif.
Speaking on the occasion, the premier said, “Pakistan has enormous untapped potential in the IT sector and invited foreign IT companies and experts to fully explore the talented youth bulge of the country.”
The prime minister said, “In the last decade or so Pakistani entrepreneurs have made great strides to promote the IT sector with individual and collective efforts. The government is also playing a proactive role to support these efforts.”
He said that the nation’s entire IT exports were only around $2.6 billion, which is a gross underestimation of the skill there. He noted that Pakistan has the enormous strength to further this goal.
He added that he had urged the youth and IT professionals to come forward and develop a strategy to reach this aim, noting that they had come to the conclusion that a target of roughly $5 billion annually in IT export could be readily attained.
“More than 19,000 ICT companies were currently registered in Pakistan, comprising domestic and export-oriented enterprises spread across 160 cities across Pakistan. Pakistan’s ICT industry was exporting state-of-the-art products and services to 169 countries and territories,” he added.
At the Prime Minister’s House, a special gathering of delegates took place in this respect. The IT Minister Syed Amin Ul Haque and P@SHA’s initiative for bringing APICTA to Pakistan were both recognized by the PM.
“I have complete faith in the potential that Pakistan’s IT industry has and am waiting for the international world to realize the strengths that we as a country, have to offer,” the IT minister said on the occasion.
Chairman APICTA, Stan Singh-Jit, in his speech, said that, “He had voted for holding the event in Pakistan because the country had never hosted such an event and had great talented people in the IT sector.”
Chairman P@SHA, Zohaib Khan said, “The event provided an opportunity for the world to explore Pakistan’s growing IT potential, particularly for investment, partnership, and engagement with the local companies specializing in IT and IT-enabled services.”
Together with the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), and TechDestination for IT and ITES hosted the event.
Along with officials, a number of delegates, IT professionals, and business leaders, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb attended the inaugural ceremony.
To read our blog on “APICTA awards are to start today at Islamabad, its venues and schedule,” click here.
