Pakistan IT Ministry urges Google to form local presence in Pakistan

While talking to a high-level delegation of Google Asia Pacific, IT Minister Anusha Rehman has urged Google to increase their engagement and presence in Pakistan.

The recent frenzy around entrepreneurship in the country and the acceptance and awareness of technology has caused a boost in the IT industry. Pakistan just made the top 100 in the Global Information Technology report. The PITB & the IT Ministry have under-taken some great initiatives to further boost the developments regarding IT in the country. So the status of development of Pakistan’s IT industry, the pace of adoption of IT technologies and the acceptance of them by the government and the people alike presents a huge opportunity for global corporations like Google to have local presence in Pakistan.

Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman, while taking to a high-level delegation of Google Asia Pacific headed by Rajan Anandan, the vice president and managing director for South East Asia, said that corporations like Google should increase their engagement and presence in Pakistan. The meeting was also attended by other officials of the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) and PTA Chairman Dr. Syed Ismail Shah.

Ms. Rehman highlighted the initiatives being taken by the MoIT, including formulation of a comprehensive telecom policy, electronic crimes bill, IT-related initiatives for women and girls and various connectivity projects for unserved and underserved areas, and a well-structured nationwide telecentres programme. Also highlighting the specific focus of the government on promotion of entrepreneurship in youth, she called upon Google to increase their engagement and presence in Pakistan. Provision of a clear-cut mechanism for intermediary liability protection for international content-hosting platforms provided in the PEC Bill and relevant clause of the Electronic Transaction Ordinance 2002 provide unambiguous support for localisation of various Google services in Pakistan.

The Google representative appreciated all the developments and particularly the efforts of the government for proliferation of broadband, promotion of innovation as well as e-governance programme, and said that these elements had led to a more focused outlook for Google to do business in Pakistan. Mr. Anandan said that the proposition of a well-grounded engagement to increase Google’s presence in Pakistan was more viable than ever. Ms. Rehman also informed the delegates about the opportunity for housing Google operations in the currently under process Technology Parks if Google decides to have full-blown local presence in the country.The Google representatives assured the minister of the maximum cooperation for achievement of mutual objectives and that Pakistan would benefit from the changed strategic outlook of Google regarding pursuing business in Pakistan.

Source: Daily Times