Pakistan to launch 5G technology by July 2023: IT minister

• Compared to 43 ministries, highest increase in exports has occurred in IT and telecommunication.
• Exports of information telecommunication and telecommunication have increased by 47.44%.
• IT minister says technology is being embedded very rapidly in every sphere of life.

Federal Minister for Information and Technology and Communication Syed Aminul Haque on Thursday announced that Pakistan will launch 5G technology by July 2023.

The minister made the announcement while addressing a gathering at the UBIT Career Fest 2022 organised by the Department of Computer Science, University of Karachi. He was invited as a chief guest there.

The event was held at the UBIT Garden in which more than 30 software houses participated to short-list candidates after conducting tests and interviews.

As compared to the other 43 ministries of Pakistan, the highest increase in exports has occurred in the IT and telecommunication sector and the exports of other ministries have increased by 2% to 3% only, while the exports of information telecommunication and telecommunication have increased by 47.44%.

Haque said that future needs can be met with the cooperation of IT industries and universities and shared that in the year 2019-20, US$75 million was allocated for the start-ups whereas the next year the amount was increased to US$373 million.

The federal IT minister acknowledged that a large number of female students are enrolled in computer science programmes at various universities and said that he is glad to see their role in this regard.

He said that society can progress by empowering women and informed the audience that there is no sign of corruption in the Ministry of IT and Communication and that whoever is found involved in corruption will not remain in the ministry.

“When I took over the ministry, our exports were US$1.4 billion dollars and today it has increased to US$2.6 billion dollars while our target is US$5 billion dollars.”

He also said that today is the era of information technology because technology is being embedded very rapidly in every sphere of life, such as architecture, defence systems, space sciences, health, and other sectors. Syed Aminul Haque added that we have to work hard to achieve the goals of 2050.

On this occasion, the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood-Iraqi said that universities are usually the centre of developing creative thinking, innovation, and research.

“There is no lack of intelligence and creative thinking among our youth, but it is necessary to support them and provide facilities to implement their creative thinking and creations.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the Department of Computer Science, Dr Nadeem Mahmood, shed light on the career fest and shared its aims and objectives.