ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Syed Aminul Haque Thursday expressed serious concerns over sealing of Jazz Network head office on tax matters by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and maintained that such action was not welcomed for future foreign investors as well as the country's economy.
This, he stated, while presiding over the ninth meeting of the Prime Minister's Task Force on IT and Telecom, here on Thursday, which was also attended by Federal Secretary for IT and Telecom Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui and Dr Attaur Rehman and other members of the task force.
Haque informed the meeting that the closure of the head office of Jazz Network on tax matters by the FBR a few days ago was not a desirable act on which he has expressed his concerns in the relevant forum.
The minister said that in this regard, instead of sealing the office, another route could have been taken but this action of the FBR has brought to the notice of companies working in the field of networking in Pakistan and future foreign investors.
Concerns have been raised that cannot be welcomed by the country's economy.
"We strive to ensure that this does not happen in the future with any IT or telecommunications company," he added.
The IT minister said the closure of any social media application would never be supported, but no concession could be given when it came to national security and public interest.
Haque said that few days ago, the TikTok application was temporarily shut down on which clear position was given that the closure of any application was not the solution to the problem rather they be brought within the ambit of rules and regulations.
It is important to move in the right direction and the government is working hard to achieve this milestone. The federal minister said that not only on the social media but also through any platform, propaganda against national security, insults against state institutions, anti-Islamic and anti-social values, and hate speech to sabotage religious harmony would not be tolerated.
He further said the social media rules had been approved by the Cabinet after which a formal notification had been issued under the Ministry of IT.
"We are focused on Pakistan and maintained principled position everywhere that Pakistan is a staunch supporter of any innovation and business development in the field of construction and information technology," the minister added.
The government is also providing facilities and opening up a vast Pakistani market for huge profits, but everyone must abide by Pakistani rules on national security, hate speech, and immoral data, he added.
The participants of the meeting were also apprised of the positive discussions being held with the Chief Minister of Sindh regarding reduction in sales tax on exports of IT products in Sindh. They expressed satisfaction over ongoing and future plans for installation of mobile towers and extension of mobile phone connections through fibre optics, improvement and provision of broadband services.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020