Information Technology Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Wednesday sought greater partnerships between Japanese IT firms and Pakistan's software houses to produce high-end products and services that could later be outsourced by the international market.
"Pakistan is an ideal place for Japanese investment and the fact that Japanese companies that have invested in Pakistan in the past have been able to reap rich harvests, reflects on the high ratio of return for their businesses in Pakistan," he said in a meeting with a team of Japanese businessmen.
The Japanese businessmen are from the Marubeni Corporation, which is a major Japanese conglomerate with over 5,000 employees world-wide. IT Secretary Farrukh Qayyum and other officials of the ministry were also present on the occasion.
The minister highlighted the growth achieved by Pakistan in various sectors, especially IT and telecom sectors, which were leading the way to an economic turnaround in the country. "It is the right time for the companies such as the Marubeni Corporation to take advantage of these positive economic conditions and investment opportunities in Pakistan," he added.
The minister was informed that Marubeni Corporation was already marketing major Pakistani IT products in the international market and the economy had been thoroughly impressed with the improvement in quality and the maturity of industry over the last few years.
Awais assured Marubeni Corporation of the ongoing support of the IT Ministry and directed the Pakistan Software Export Board to work aggressively with Marubeni Corporation in expanding their business partnerships in Pakistan.
He emphasised that in joint ventures with established companies such as Marubeni Corporation, Pakistan could further expand the high-end business process outsourcing sector. He informed the delegation that his ministry was also implanting targeted human resource development training programmes to meet the dynamic needs of the industry and the government would be happy to impart training to more professionals to meet the dynamic and specific needs of the industry and BPO sector.