(Karachi) Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said the government is working towards providing affordable, reliable, and high-quality digital services to the people.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday, Qureshi said that it is the state's responsibility to improve the people's quality of life and economic well-being by ensuring the availability of services.

He stated that adopting emerging digital technologies and innovative applications is essential to ensure socio-economic development, the transformation of the governance model, and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Performance in SDG sectors: Pakistan lags behind its emerging market peers: IMF

The foreign minister said Pakistan is one of the first countries to endorse the SDGs. He said our long-term development agenda and provincial development strategies are aligned with the SDGs.

In his remarks on the occasion, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin ul Haque said all preparations have been completed for the auction of the next-generation mobile services spectrum next month.

He said this will bring billions of rupees to the national exchequer.

Audit reports of funds allocated, released to provinces through SDGs sought

Earlier, the foreign minister underscored that SDGs remained one of the top national priorities of Pakistan. He stated that Pakistan is an emerging market with great opportunities for investments in its growing economy.

He underscored that economic diplomacy is now at the core of Pakistan’s foreign policy, corresponding to the leadership’s vision of an economically secure Pakistan with a shift in emphasis towards geo-economics.