President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf praises the progress made in high-tech industries.

During the last few years, Pakistan has witnessed tremendous growth in the field of information technology and telecommunications. The policies of the government have made Pakistan an attractive place for telecom investment. This is evident from the launch of new fixed and cellular services. Foreign investment to the tune of three billion dollars has taken place during the last three years. A large number of domestic and international call centers are operational, providing thousands of skilled jobs. Combined, fixed and cellular teledensity has doubled from 4% to over 9% in the last three years. Internet has spread throughout the nation and has over 3 million users.

International bandwidth capacity has also increased dramatically.

With the advent of new service providers, we are witnessing tremendous competition, increasing options for customers. At present, five mobile operators are offering services. The sixth was launched on May 12, 2005 and quality of service is improving.

Software development has improved considerably, and current export levels are at about $50 million per annum. New technology parks have been established at Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.

Software companies are winning international recognition for their achievements and the NCR is one of the major IT multinationals that has put Pakistan at the center of its global operations. From our nation they provide consultancy services to countries throughout the world.

Pakistan is keeping pace with international trends in banking, business and information technology through the increasing application of sophisticated equipment and software.