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from Nation.
IT budget raised to reverse 'criminal negligence'
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan, lagging badly in the Information technology (IT) race, has approved a 15-fold increase in its science and technology budget to reverse the 'criminal negligence' of past rulers, a government minister said.
Science and Technology Minister Attaur Rehman told Reuters in a weekend interview that the IT budget would be raised to 15.7 billion rupees in fiscal 2000/2001. 'From 110 million rupees we are going to 15.7 billion. Can you imagine, this is a tremendous quantum jump,' said Rehman whose ministry unveiled a draft IT policy on Saturday. Rehman said Pakistan was determined to reverse past neglect and use technology as a vehicle of development.
'This criminal neglect has left us 100 to 150 years behind... We may have had cosmetic improvement in certain things but we are still very far behind and for this we have to use the communication technology to leapfrog into the modern times. 'Fortunately, this can be done within a span of 10 to 15 years,' said Rehman, a well-known Pakistani scientist who runs a chemistry institute in Karachi. Pakistan has limped into the IT race that is sweeping the world with global e-commerce projected to grow to $1.4 trillion in the next two years from an estimated $70 billion at present.
Rehman said software exports were projected to have a global market of $485 billion in the next two years and if Pakistan could only grab one percent of that market, it would translate into $5 billion, double its total development budget. With a meagre few million dollars of software exports a year, Pakistan also seriously trails India in the IT field but Rehman said the government was determined to steer the country out of decades of inertia. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSFORM ECONOMY
'It is for the first time that such a major injection of funds will go in this important area, and I am confident that this will help to transform our economy and help to rid us from the stranglehold of foreign debt,' Rehman said.
Cash-strapped Pakistan's foreign debt is estimated at $38 billion and due to a severe resource crunch, Islamabad faces extreme difficulty servicing that debt.
Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, a former banker and chosen by military ruler General Pervez Musharraf to steer the economy back on track, is seeking crucial International Monetary Fund help.
Rehman said 10 years of serious and dedicated hard work could transform the country and its ailing economy. 'I am confident that Pakistan can do it provided they don't keep going round and round in circles. There are things which successive governments must take on in a uniform manner. 'We can't keep on changing policies every few years and start the programmes all over,' he said.
EDUCATION VITAL
Rehman said about four billion rupees of the 15.7 billion would be spent on human resource development and education, without which there could be no development.
'We took up a holistic view of things. When I formulated the science and technology programme I said you cannot prop up science and technology in isolation from education ... mostly people think in grooves, I said that is absolute nonsense. You can't talk of science and technology in isolation to education.'
'But everything is buzzing, so I am confident and enthusiastic that this interia which was due to criminal negligence of the vital area of education and science and technology will now go and we will at last be embarked on progress,' he said.
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They could also think of networking of professionals in Indian way. See http://www.fortune.com/fortune/2000/05/15/ind2.html
from Nation.
IT budget raised to reverse 'criminal negligence'
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan, lagging badly in the Information technology (IT) race, has approved a 15-fold increase in its science and technology budget to reverse the 'criminal negligence' of past rulers, a government minister said.
Science and Technology Minister Attaur Rehman told Reuters in a weekend interview that the IT budget would be raised to 15.7 billion rupees in fiscal 2000/2001. 'From 110 million rupees we are going to 15.7 billion. Can you imagine, this is a tremendous quantum jump,' said Rehman whose ministry unveiled a draft IT policy on Saturday. Rehman said Pakistan was determined to reverse past neglect and use technology as a vehicle of development.
'This criminal neglect has left us 100 to 150 years behind... We may have had cosmetic improvement in certain things but we are still very far behind and for this we have to use the communication technology to leapfrog into the modern times. 'Fortunately, this can be done within a span of 10 to 15 years,' said Rehman, a well-known Pakistani scientist who runs a chemistry institute in Karachi. Pakistan has limped into the IT race that is sweeping the world with global e-commerce projected to grow to $1.4 trillion in the next two years from an estimated $70 billion at present.
Rehman said software exports were projected to have a global market of $485 billion in the next two years and if Pakistan could only grab one percent of that market, it would translate into $5 billion, double its total development budget. With a meagre few million dollars of software exports a year, Pakistan also seriously trails India in the IT field but Rehman said the government was determined to steer the country out of decades of inertia. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSFORM ECONOMY
'It is for the first time that such a major injection of funds will go in this important area, and I am confident that this will help to transform our economy and help to rid us from the stranglehold of foreign debt,' Rehman said.
Cash-strapped Pakistan's foreign debt is estimated at $38 billion and due to a severe resource crunch, Islamabad faces extreme difficulty servicing that debt.
Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, a former banker and chosen by military ruler General Pervez Musharraf to steer the economy back on track, is seeking crucial International Monetary Fund help.
Rehman said 10 years of serious and dedicated hard work could transform the country and its ailing economy. 'I am confident that Pakistan can do it provided they don't keep going round and round in circles. There are things which successive governments must take on in a uniform manner. 'We can't keep on changing policies every few years and start the programmes all over,' he said.
EDUCATION VITAL
Rehman said about four billion rupees of the 15.7 billion would be spent on human resource development and education, without which there could be no development.
'We took up a holistic view of things. When I formulated the science and technology programme I said you cannot prop up science and technology in isolation from education ... mostly people think in grooves, I said that is absolute nonsense. You can't talk of science and technology in isolation to education.'
'But everything is buzzing, so I am confident and enthusiastic that this interia which was due to criminal negligence of the vital area of education and science and technology will now go and we will at last be embarked on progress,' he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They could also think of networking of professionals in Indian way. See http://www.fortune.com/fortune/2000/05/15/ind2.html
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