The present trend of organising exhibitions in the country has attracted foreign investment and boosted the economic activities in Pakistan. This was stated by former federal investment and privatisation minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of sixth ITCN-Asia at the Karachi Expo Centre here on Wednesday.
Dr Hafeez said that six years back, when the first ITCN was held at around 4,000 sq. feet area now the event is being held at more than 9,000 sq. feet area of the four halls. He said over 450 stalls have been set up in this exhibition. Over 150 companies and more than 100 delegates representing 37 countries are participating in this exhibition.
He said the exhibitions are playing a very important role in promoting economic activities in the country. He was optimistic that the trend in GDP growth would be continued in future and Pakistan would remain one of the fastest growing economies in the region.
Dr Hafeez Sheikh lauded the services of Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan and its President Dr Khursheed Nizam for holding such mega events in the country and asked them to continue the trend for the betterment of the country.
Earlier, Dr Hafeez Sheikh formally inaugurated the sixth ITCN-2006 by cutting a ribbon. A large number of foreign delegates, representative from the local business community, diplomats and others were present on this occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Khursheed Nizam said that Pakistan is going to become regional IT hub in the region and this exhibition (ITCN-Asia) is playing a very important role in this regard.
He said that it is expected that a number of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) of over $250 million would be signed among local and foreign companies during the exhibition against MoUs worth Rs 150 million signed during the previous exhibition.
The SMEs sector IT companies would be more beneficial because they are not able to market their product at international markets. The exhibition provides the opportunities to sellers and buyers to gather under one roof with their products and to market it, he added.
He emphasised the need for building more expo centres in the country, as there is only one expo centre in Karachi, which is not able to accommodate the increasing number of exhibitions. There would be at least three to four expo centres only in Karachi, he added.
Dr Khursheed Nizam said that other exhibition centres should be built in Sialkot, Faisalabad, Lahore, and other cities of the country. He suggested that the government could buy readymade expo centres from China, which would be more economical, and offered the government for his co-operation in this regard.
He pointed out that ITCN-Asia has provided job opportunities to over 5,000 people while all the hotels in Karachi are full, which indicates the increasing economic activities in the country. Over 1,000 students from different educational institutions are hired and trained to receive and assist foreign delegates from Karachi airport to hotels and to Expo Centre during the exhibition, he added.
Meanwhile, Chief of Navel Staff Admiral Afzal Tahir and other dignities visited the ITCN-Asia 2006. The IT departments of Sindh, Punjab and NWFP and leading local and multinational IT companies, including Mobilink, Ufone, Telenor, Warid and others set up their stalls in the exhibition.
Comments
Comments are closed.