Dubai Internet City signs Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistan Software Export Board

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Dubai Internet City today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) at a signing ceremony attended by His Excellency Ovais Khan Leghari, the Pakistani Minister of IT and Telecommunications.

Under the MoU, Dubai Internet City and PSEB will jointly explore the possibility of setting up a technology park in Pakistan. The two organizations will jointly commit resources in examining the feasibility of such a project.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, CEO of Dubai Internet City and Dr. Aamir Matin, Managing Director, PSEB on behalf of their respective organisations. The signing ceremony was also attended by Ahmad Bin Byat, Director General of the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone

The Pakistan Software Export Board is a Pakistani Government agency set up to facilitate the development of the local IT industry by extending all possible help to prospective foreign/domestic investors and to software companies operating in Pakistan.

“The UAE and Pakistan have had close economic ties and this MoU will contribute towards strengthening them. More specifically, I am confident that the signing of the MOU will enable us to work closely together to accelerate ICT development,” said Ahmad Bin Byat, Director General of the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone. “There are many complementarities between the ICT sectors in both UAE and Pakistan and our concerted efforts will bring benefits to both our countries,” he added.

“Pakistan’s ICT industry has shown considerable promise over the last few years and we are looking at the feasibility of setting up a business park that will both add value to the Pakistani industry as well as boost our efforts to accelerate ICT growth in the region,” said Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, CEO of Dubai Internet City. “Dubai Internet City has evolved into a very powerful brand of its own and we are looking at partnering with other countries to set up satellite business parks there. Developing Dubai Internet City has given us considerable expertise in creating and managing planned knowledge-industry clusters, which we are keen to share with other countries in the region,” he added.

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Islamabad gets ComCity crown

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar on Thursday crowned the Pakistani capital of Islamabad with Communication City. "In order to promote the exports of Information Technology products, a Communication City will be established in Islamabad to provide all infrastructure facilities to IT, Telecommunication and Media Companies," the minister said in his Trade Policy for 2004-05. IT analysts have raised their eyebrows and one of them said: "The proposed ComCity should have been Karachi, the country’s largest user of information technology." —IK

Dubai firm to set up tech park in Pakistan

Dubai—Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dubai Internet City for setting up a modern and high-tech technology park in Pakistan.The MoU was signed at an impressive ceremony at the Dubai Internet City where Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and senior officials of the Dubai Internet City were also present.

MoU signed to set up technology park

By Our Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: Information Technology Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Tuesday described the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) and the Dubai Internet City as a breakthrough.

"This is a huge breakthrough in our efforts to uplift the IT sector and we are confident the technology park would go a long way towards strengthening the IT industry in the country," the minister told Dawn in a telephonic conversation from Dubai before flying to England where he would attend a one-day 'Pakistan Trade and Investment: The New Frontier' conference scheduled to be held in London on Wednesday.

The minister said he was foreseeing a tremendous growth of IT industry and IT-enabled services in Pakistan as a result of Dubai Internet City's decision to set up a technology park in the country.

"The fact that the Dubai Internet City has shown interest in launching their operations in Pakistan reflects the level of confidence they have in the government policies and the potential of our IT market to grow in the years to come," he added.

Mr Leghari said Pakistan had already seen a rapid growth in the IT-enabled services sector over the past year or so, and the government was committed to providing incentives to investors to ensure sustained growth in this field.

The government had offered a variety of incentives to the investors and some of those contributed significantly to the growth of the IT sector in the recent past, he added.

He said the feasibility report for the park would be ready in a couple of months, adding that the park would not only add value to the local industry but also give a major boost to the efforts aimed at accelerating the information and communication technology growth in the region.

The minister said the Dubai Internet City possessed considerable expertise in creating and managing planned knowledge-industry clusters and it was also keen to share these with other countries, including Pakistan.

Earlier, the MoU was signed at the famous Dubai Internet City, Dubai. The memorandum was signed by Dr Omar bin Sulaiman, the chief executive officer of Dubai Internet City, and Dr Aamir Matin, the PSEB managing director.

Under the MoU, the Dubai Internet City and the PSEB will jointly explore the possibility of setting up a technology park in Pakistan. The two organizations will jointly commit resources in examining the feasibility of such a project.

The export board, being a government agency, is responsible for facilitating the development of the local IT industry by extending all possible help to prospective foreign/domestic investors and to software companies operating in Pakistan.

Great news. Pakistan has some IT geniuses.

Great news. Pakistan has some IT geniuses.

the "some" IT geniuses are turning into "many" now.

Pakistani software companies are moving ahead fast now.

48% growth in IT exports witnessed in the last three months.

a lot of foreign companies, local, and call centres opening up.

WHO CARES :sleepy:

WHO CARES :sleepy:

:lol: you should. your Canadian companies are moving to Pakistan too ! :lol:

cheap solutions, so watch out, your job might be the next to be outsourced :)!

None of our companies moved to Pakistan... possibly some have opened customer service centers or of that sort...

At the recieving end of outsourcing, there's nothing to be proud of that... They are just taking advantage of people, people that are willing to work so hard for barely any money.

Outsourcing is a problem to certain countries... the problem though is not a big as it seems, and it is well documented that some companies have started to close their outsource, because of customer complaints in regards to problems being not understood, launguage barriers and because of an upsurge of patriotic feelings...

Yes companies outsource, to cut costs which leads to higher profits... But some of these companies are starting to lose jobs, because of them being looked as unpatriotic, and most importantly, launguage and understanding barriers and inefficiant handling of problems.

CORRECTION.... REPLACING JOBS WITH BUSINESS IN THIRD PARAGRAPH...-"starting to lose business,"-

None of our companies moved to Pakistan... possibly some have opened customer service centers or of that sort...

At the recieving end of outsourcing, there's nothing to be proud of that... They are just taking advantage of people, people that are willing to work so hard for barely any money.

Outsourcing is a problem to certain countries... the problem though is not a big as it seems, and it is well documented that some companies have started to close their outsource, because of customer complaints in regards to problems being not understood, launguage barriers and because of an upsurge of patriotic feelings...

Yes companies outsource, to cut costs which leads to higher profits... But some of these companies are starting to lose jobs, because of them being looked as unpatriotic, and most importantly, launguage and understanding barriers and inefficiant handling of problems.

I dont think outsourcing takes advantage of people, specialy in the IT industry. Just because a computer engineer in pakistan doesn't need 100 grand (some number) like his counter-part in the states doesnt mean he or she are being taken advantage off. I had an indian lecturer come to my university a couple of month ago. He used to make about $8,000 a year. He said that he had a nanny, a maid, a cook, and a driver. Each morning some guy would come and do his garden and wash his car. Now that he is in the States, he is making $100 thousand plus, and he does his own garden now.

The cost of living differ greatly so do salaries.!!

Toronto75,

Outsourcing does not mean that your taking advantage of the other person, if you think by that mentality, i would like to say, that in Canada, there are mainly and mostly all American firms, they find it a *bit* cheaper to do business in Canada, because when you convert US dollar to Canadian, you get more for the buck. So by your ideaology that would mean, that those firms are taking advantage of you.

A lot of your Canadian firms are starting up there business operations in Pakistan due to the open investment policy introduced by the current govt, one of the firms has gone to such extent that it has purchased a local airline, Shaheen Airways.

and when you Outsource the work, the work is supposed to be done professionally which means, the guys at the backend (as you put it) get paid good according to the standards of the country they live in.

if you make a $1,000 in Pakistan a month, you live a really good life, you can get a personal cook, driver, maids, and you live like a KING!

talking about IT, when IT is developed in Pakistan, this means it is being exported from Pakistan, which earns Pakistan valuable foreign exchange and earns the company (that has made investments) good profits, because the work is being done for cheap, a lot of companies prefer to outsource there work to that part of the world, and companies in large numbers invest, which means more development, more employment, more exports, strong economy.

so it benefits us anyway, and your job gets taken away :)!