ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has stressed the need for equipping youth with skills of latest technology, stating that Pakistan’s economic uplift was linked to the development of information technology (IT) in the country.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of Huawei ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) Competition 2022-23 at the Presidency on Wednesday, the president said the youth should not be worried about the country’s weak economic situation as it would get better soon, but they should continue focusing on developing their skills.

“Use your talent and grow up in the world,” the president advised the youth.

Dr Alvi said though Pakistan had become the second largest freelance market in the world, the people were still facing issues related to financial transactions. He underlined that by easing the financial movement and financial transactions in Pakistan, the country’s economy could further boost and its GDP rate could increase by two to three per cent.

Dr Alvi said the political and bureaucratic leadership must also be equipped with the basic skills of IT and modern technology. He said a programme was initiated by the government to train 1,000 bureaucrats in IT field but despite several years, only 800 received the required training due to lack of will by the officers.

Expressing disappointment over a high rate of out-of-school children in the country, President Alvi said 27 million children were out of school and the government would need to build 55,000 new schools to accommodate all the children which would needed huge resources. Therefore, he said the online education system should be launched to address the issue on emergency basis.

President Alvi expressed the hope that opening of Huawei’s global service centre in Pakistan would create employment opportunities, besides ensuring technology transfer to the youth of the country.

President Public Affairs and Communication Huawei Technologies Middle East and Central Asia Wang Shunli said the Huawei ICT Competition attracted 120,000 students from over 2,000 universities and colleges across the globe.

The objectives of the competition, he said, were to encourage knowledge transfer in latest technology such as 5G, AI and clouding etc to the Pakistani talented youth. He said the competition also helped promoting digital transformation and sustainable development for both business and the society in Pakistan.

Competition

The students from Pakistan had won second and third prize in the Network Track and third prize in the Innovation Track at the competition’s Global Final concluded in Shenzhen, China. The first to be held in person since 2019, the event’s culmination was a competition between finalists in 146 teams from 36 countries.

Before the final, more than 120,000 students from more than 2,000 universities in 74 countries and regions around the world took part in the ICT Competition, said a news release.

Dr Alvi presented the second prize certificate in the Network Track to Muhammad Faeez Ali and Asad Anwer from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, and Maryam Fareed from Lahore College for Women University.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2023