President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali say they are impressed by the tremendous progress in the IT sector.
In their messages on the occasion of ITU World Telecommunication Day, they expressed the confidence that the Ministry of Information Technology will keep its focus on implementation plans to start infrastructure development in rural and far-flung areas besides achieving universal accessibility, which is a key focus of the telecommunication policy.
"Tremendous progress has been made in the IT sector during last four years and I compliment the Ministry of Information Technology for undertaking policy measures which are set to change the telecommunication road map forever," President Musharraf said.
"The importance of ICTs in the modern times cannot be over emphasised," he said, adding, "we are indeed part of the digital revolution, which is brining nations together with global telecommunication network playing a critical role in bridging the distances between people and nations."
General Musharraf said that the overwhelming response to the cellular mobile sector by international operators has firmly established Pakistan as a major destination for telecom investment, companies, services providers and operators to come and benefit from participating in the ICT revolution in the country.
STRATEGIC ROLE: "ICTs have a strategic role in promoting economic development."
He congratulated the Minister for Information Technology and his team for their keen interest in development policies for promoting the telecommunication sector in the country and wish them all the best for successfully implementing key objectives of the World Summit on Information Society's declaration of principles adopted by the ITU last year.
TIMELY MEASURES: In his message the prime minister stressed upon various stakeholders the need for taking timely measures for extending Universal Access of ICTs, and take this opportunity to assure his full support to the Minister for Information Technology for the policy initiatives he is undertaking for increasing the diffusion of ICTs.
"They are sure to promote awareness of ICT and act as a driver for economic and social development of the country".
He extended warm greetings to the Ministry of Information Technology on the occasion of the ITU World Telecommunication day.
He recalled that only a few months back that he led a delegation to the World Summit on Information Society and, in his address there, he stressed upon the importance of bridging the digital divide so that fruits of ICTs could be evenly distributed between various strata of the population.
He said he assured all concerned that the development of ICTs is a key priority in Pakistan and the government has demonstrated its commitment to this sector by allocating significant resources for its accelerated development in view of its importance for economic and social development.
"We are indeed very pleased that the declaration of principles and the action plan agreed at the WS/S duly recognised the criticality of the digital divide phenomenon and also the role that ICTs can play in long term development of nations," he concluded.