Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani witnessing the exchange of documents after signing of agreement between Comsats Institute of IT and Huawei Technologies at the Prime Minister House
Under the agreement Huawei will set up an integrated platform for telecom engineers and students of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to focus on Research and Development activities and remain abreast of the cutting edge technologies in the industry.
Huawei has already put in place a similar set up at the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore and gifted it latest telecom equipment and laboratory. Over 3000 students have received training at this center.
Huawei is currently meeting 70 per cent needs of world’s top 50 telecom companies including the BT, Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange and T-Mobile.
In Pakistan it is providing telecom solution and equipment to PTCL, Ufone, Telenor, Warid, Zong, NTC, NLC and SCO.
The signing ceremony was also witnessed by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Petroleum Naveed Qamar, Privatisation Minister Waqar Ahmed Khan, senior officials and ambassador of China to Pakistan Luo Zhao Hui.
Earlier the delegation headed by its CEO August Ye, called on the Prime Minister where he was briefed about the joint IT project and the contribution it will make for a progressive future of Pakistan.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Gilani said that telecom sector in Pakistan has made enormous progress and the performance indicators are showing encouraging signs.
He said tele-density which was merely 2.3 percent in 1999-2000 has now soared to 62.4 percent which is highest in the South Asian Region.
The total number of fixed and mobile subscribers has reached around 102.16 million while broadband connectivity has increased to 500,000 and is still showing a rapid increase, he added.
He said that Information and Communication Technology sector is considered as the engine of growth and socio-economic development of countries all over the world.
The development of the countries is being measured in terms of their potential and performance in this sector. New technologies and innovating IT applications are transforming national and international economies, he added.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani witnessing the exchange of documents after signing of agreement between Comsats Institute of IT and Huawei Technologies at the Prime Minister House
The Prime Minister said that in order to cater for the growing needs of telecom industry, quality human resource, especially, IT and Telecom specialists are of vital importance. In this regard, he added that the government was placing special emphasis on enhancing the capacity of technical institutions, besides, undertaking Research and Development programs in well reputed institutions of Higher Education in Pakistan which is the cornerstone of our education and IT polices.
The Prime Minister hoped that by blending Information and Communication Technologies with other modern streams of formal education, at all levels, educational system can be made more futuristic and progressive.
He appreciated that Huawei Telecom is contributing significantly, towards the capacity building of Engineering Universities of Pakistan.
Huawei has already established an IT centre for research and development in the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore at a cost of over US $8 million.
The Prime Minister was informed that now Huawei Tech is rendering assistance to establish one more IT & Telecom center in COMSATS, Islamabad. The center will serve as the seat of advanced learning and skill development of telecommunication professionals. It will enable the students of regional universities to get well-equipped with latest techniques and technologies.
In addition to these initiatives, Huawei technologies have also committed to deliver the IT & Telecom equipment worth US $1 million to improve the functionalities of Electronic Government Directorate.
CEO Huawei August Ye assured the Prime Minster that Huawei being a reliable and trustful partner of the Government of Pakistan and its telecom companies would continue providing advance technology in future.
He informed the Prime Minister that Huawei established its Pakistan office in 1998 and is now having technology cooperatin with Pakistan organizations.
Huawei Pakistan is the leading telecom E2E solution provider and has more than 1600 employees which are composed of over 1400 Pakistanis. Huawei is the only vendor which serves all the mainstream telecom operators of the country, he said.
He further apprised the Prime Minister that Huawei a world leading telecom solutions provider has achieved a target of over US $ 30 billion in 2009 and ranks top three in world telecom industry.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira; Minister for Petroleum Syed Naveed Qamar; Minister for Privatization Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan;
Secretary IT and Secretary Privatization.
Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Lou Zhaohui was also present during the meeting.
