Syed Aminul Haque, Pakistan’s federal minister for information technology and telecommunications, announced on Tuesday that Apple would be coming to the country. The minister told reporters that Samsung and Nokia have already established assembly factories in Pakistan as part of the mobile manufacturing policy, and that the next aim of the ministry is to lure Apple to Pakistan.
A full market analysis on 5G is being conducted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), he said, and the IT Ministry has ordered them to hire consultants to make recommendations and work closely with all stakeholders. He clarified that the study’s policy directions can be issued by the caretaker government.
Haque reported that between May and June 2023, IT exports grew while exports from other ministries decreased. He revealed that 83 Universal Services Fund projects have been initiated, with explicit instructions to finish them all by the end of the year.
The ministry of information tech is hopeful
The minister said that he had instructed the government not to put any money into the information technology industry, but rather to help it along and shield it from the Federal Board of Revenue and the State Bank of Pakistan.
Every effort is being made to overcome the problems facing the telecom business, he said, therefore the government should help the industry modernize its infrastructure so that it can serve the masses more effectively.
The federal minister responded to a question about social media restrictions by saying that they are now being drafted in collaboration with interested parties and would soon be finished. In the meanwhile, the minister said, the Information Ministry is handling proposed changes to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) in accordance with established procedures.
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