Islamabad: Information Technology (IT) is the next sector to be developed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework, a news source reported. Officials from the IT department of the federal government have said that the work is supposed to consist of cloud computing, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, emerging technologies, manufacturing plants, technology parks, and e-governance.
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has already asked the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform to contact Chinese officials to commence talks on possible cooperation in the IT sector between both countries. The first stage of CPEC is reaching its completion and the next stage is to focus on industrial development.
Cooperation in this sector will greatly help boost Pakistan’s economy. It would increase foreign and local investment, help create thousands of jobs, save costs, and save time through automation.
Pakistan’s telecommunication market is growing rapidly. Millions of dollars of mobile handsets are imported to meet the local demand since there are no local manufacturing and assembling facilities. The government is looking into the prospects of establish a mobile phone handset plant. For this purpose, Chinese assistance is of utmost importance. This will help decrease Pakistan’s import bill drastically. The assistance of the Chinese government will also be sought in centralising data and implementing e-governance.
