TAUNSA/ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday inaugurated the project for restoration of Kachhi Canal damaged by 2022 floods.
Addressing the ceremony, Shehbaz told the gathering that the feasibility study of the Kachhi Canal Project was started in 1998 during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure and was completed in his second tenure after suffering a lot during Pervez Musharraf time.
He appreciated the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and their respective team for accomplishing the repair project and assured the federal government’s all-out support for the second phase.
The prime minister also appreciated the Balochistan chief minister for reviving the merit-based order and launching the solarisation of tube-wells.
Similarly, he also spoke highly for the Punjab chief minister for launching the project of a cancer hospital, free tractor scheme for farmers to bring about the agricultural revolution and other initiatives in the education and health sectors.
Separately, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication presented a detailed action plan to the prime minister aimed at boosting the country’s IT exports to $25 billion in five years.
The prime minister, who had tasked the IT Ministry with the target, chaired a review meeting in Islamabad and appreciated the action plan, and instructed to ensure its implementation, according to a PM Office press release.
The action plan featured measures to bring reforms in different IT-related sectors and address the issues.
In his remarks, the prime minister said that there was no dearth of capable manpower and resources.
The effective use of resources and skill training of the manpower could take the IT exports even beyond the targeted $25 billion.
He asked all the relevant departments for collaborative efforts to address the challenges in the IT sector reforms and informed the participants that he would personally oversee the implementation process.
The prime minister instructed the Higher Education Commission to devise an action plan for youth’s education and skill training of international standards.
Calling for implementing the proposals to meet the Gulf countries’ demand for IT experts, he asked the IT Ministry to define the targets and their timelines to enhance exports.
In this regard, he also directed to constitute a committee to ensure the implementation of the reforms and carry out necessary collaboration with different departments.
In the briefing, the prime minister was told that his decision to prioritise the IT sector led to a 34 percent increase in IT exports during the last four months.
It was informed that Pakistan’s IT ranking improved from 79 to 40, e-governance ranking by 14 points, and 2,500 new IT companies were registered.
The participants were informed that for the next five years, a $15 billion target has been set for IT sector exports, $10 billion for digitisation, and $1 billion for telecom exports.
The meeting was briefed on the Labor Management System aimed at capacity building of the workforce in collaboration with the educational institutions, using the demand data of the industries.
As the IT Ministry briefed about the proposed project for the facilitation of youth particularly the freelancers in remittances, the prime minister appreciated the measures regarding the international patent gateways and instructed for an immediate implementation.
He expressed satisfaction with the action plan on IT exports and lauded the IT minister and her team.
Federal Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, Minister of State for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja and relevant senior officers attended the meeting.