ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said Pakistan is geared to become the regional hub of IT&Telecom business in view of the availability of highly skilled human capital, ease and reduced cost of doing business and its world-class infrastructure. Talking to Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Norway at the PM House, the Prime Minister said deregulation, privatisation and opening up of telecommunication sector has stimulated phenomenal growth attracting foreign investments and making telecom sector the fastest growing sector of our economy. Fredrik Baksaas said Pakistan has all the features of becoming a success story in view of the comparative and competitive advantages of doing business in Pakistan.
Fredrik Baksaas said there is a direct relationship between the teledensity growth and the GDP growth of the country. Research shows that there is an increase of one percent in the GDP with 10 percent increase in teledensity. He said according to GSMA Association research, the contribution of telecom sector in the overall GDP growth of Pakistan is 4 percent. The Prime Minister said mobile sector has shown growth of over 100 per cent in last two years. This, coupled with the incentives provided to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector, has created an enormous range of opportunities for all segments of the industry. The Prime Minister said the combined teledensity during last three years has increased from 4.5 per cent to more than 27 per cent and the number of subscribers of fixed and mobile telephony has increased from 8 million in 2003 to 42.7 million in 2006. Mobile subscribers alone are in excess of 36 million, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said the use of cellular phones among the low-income subscribers is growing in the country. In rural areas the government is providing the facility of phones through the system of wireless local loop. Fredrik Baksaas apprised the Prime Minister of the plans of Telenor to expand its business in Pakistan and said that in view of the favourable policy framework of Pakistan, Telenor is working on a long-term plan to establish their business in Pakistan. He said presently the company has employed 1400 employees directly and 10,000 indirectly in Pakistan, and the number will increase as their business expands in Pakistan. Fredrik Baksaas said Telenor is one of the fastest growing networks in Pakistan with a footprint that covers more than 500 destinations. He said Telenor has plans to invest over one billion dollars over the next few years in infrastructure development in Pakistan, which will result in improving telecom services and providing greater employment. Federal Minister for IT & Telecommunication Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Minister of State for IT & Telecommunication Ishaq Khan Khakwani and senior officials also attended the meeting among others.
Source: The News
Date:10/6/2006
