Press Release/ UNDP Newsfront - 4 Oct 2002/ http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html Pakistan promotes e-commerce to boost business and reduce poverty Friday, 4 October 2002: Recognizing the power of information and communications technology (ICT), Pakistan is promoting e-commerce as a way of helping businesses improve efficiency, create jobs and reduce poverty.
A recent international conference in Islamabad on e-commerce and development [http://www.emerge.com.pk/ ], organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, UNDP and the UN Conference on Trade and Development, brought together experts to review Pakistan's progress and recommend new strategies. E-commerce will encourage business, government and academia to work more closely together, in line with the UNDP global strategy of promoting public-private partnerships to bridge the digital divide. Dr. Attaur-Rehman, Minister of Science and Technology, told the conference that the Government plans to put an e-commerce policy framework in place within three months. The private sector will be the driving force behind e-commerce, he said, with the Government providing a simple, secure legal environment. Banks in Pakistan have made great progress in e-commerce in the past three years, but need to do more, he said, announcing that the Government will carry out e-commerce readiness surveys of banks and publish reports and ratings regularly. UNDP Resident Representative Onder Yucer said that management of information is critical for equitable economic growth. "We hope that with UNDP support, Pakistan will benefit more from the emerging possibilities that digital technology offers in areas as diverse as commerce, governance and education." Mr. Yucer pointed out that banks and ICT companies in Pakistan are enthusiastic about e-commerce. These are critical sectors for guiding e-commerce initiatives and their links to the general business sector are important in this regard, he said. Pakistan has recognized ICT as a major source of economic revitalization, and the Ministry of Science and Technology has asked UNDP to mobilize e-commerce expertise to help develop appropriate policies and identify areas where it can benefit the country's development, including bringing poor communities into the economic mainstream. UNDP has also helped the Ministry establish a Virtual University, which aims to bring together talented professionals to provide world- class online ICT education for 40,000 students. The long-term goal is to improve the standard of ICT to make Pakistan more economically competitive. ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
