LAHORE, Sept 13: Soft perception of Pakistan is growing at international level that has attracted a Google’s team of professionals and technical experts to visit Pakistan and meet internet marketers, developers and bloggers to explain strategies that are successful in other emerging markets.

Google @ Pakistan consultant Badar Khushnood told Dawn the perception about Pakistan was quite negative at the international level due to the perception created by the international media.

Since joining Google way back in 2006, he said, he continued holding small activities and events and realised the Google top hierarchy that Pakistanis were hardworking and could compete at international level. “Now, the time has come that the Google team has itself decided to visit Pakistan and promote its tools and help internet users to get maximum benefits,” he added.

In the wake of increase in number of internet users and even more mobile users, he said, Pakistan would be a good market to promote Google tools.

He said the Google was expanding in the Asia region, adding that Singapore office had hired two Pakistanis to exclusively look after exponential growth in sales in Pakistan.

“Google may open its offices in Pakistan in near future, if the momentum of increase in internet users and mobile users continues,” he said.

He said the Google did not have legal entity in Pakistan. Mr Khushnood said the Pakistani government needed to understand the paradigm shift and focus on developing laws for internet usage.

He said the people also needed to be educated that what was good and what was bad. “Now, the government cannot censor anything as the communication media had expanded far and wide,” he added.

He said the academia as well as all professionals needed to be given training about the usage of internet and its benefits in their jobs.

The Google Singapore team members, Jana Levene, Marc Warburton and Anand Tilak, conducted two technical sessions with internet marketers as well as developers and bloggers at a local hotel on Wednesday.

In the first session, the resource persons focused on how Pakistan could harness Google web and marketing tools and Search to develop markets and re-energise its economy. In the second session, the resource persons discussed Google+, ad sense and mobile ads.