IT Minister Stresses Telecom Resources Must Be Improved to Boost Business Activities – Pakistan

Information Technology and Telecommunications Minister Syed Amin ul Haque on Tuesday stressed the need to improve telecommunications resources to boost business and entrepreneurial activity in the country. APP reported.

He made the remarks while addressing the launch ceremony of Pakistan’s White Paper on Information and Communications Technology Development in Islamabad.

The minister said the government is focused on increasing IT exports from the current $2.6 billion to $5 billion next year.

Pakistani e-commerce platform PriceOye announces $7.9 million in seed funding

He said that a comprehensive personal data protection strategy has been developed.

“No IT-related policy will compromise on two key issues, namely national security and ease of doing business,” he said.

Highlighting some of the Ministry of Information Technology’s key ongoing projects, Haque said 5G services will be rolled out in Pakistan within the next three years, while work on digitizing parliament and cyber efficiency will also be completed by next year.

Earlier Tuesday, PriceOye, a Pakistani e-commerce platform, announced that it had raised $7.9 million in seed funding from a number of investors including PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

The funding comes at a time when Pakistan’s start-up sector is struggling with volatility as fundraising announcements coincide with downsizing and closures.