Islamabad, May 10, 2012 (PPI-OT): Dr Hamadoun Toure, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), today called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
He was accompanied by Dr. Eun-Ju Kim, Regional Director ITU for Asia and Pacific.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Federal Minister for Information Technology, Secretary IT Mr. Farooq Ahmed and Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar were also present during the meeting.
Talking to Dr Hamadoun Toure, the President appreciated ITU for its role of being a catalyst in bridging the digital divide across the world and for promoting information communication technologies in the less developed parts of the world with special focus on those who are yet to fully benefit from the information revolution.
He also appreciated ITU for its support to Pakistan in managing disaster relief communication. The President noted the valuable contributions of ITU during the times of natural disasters and thanked ITU Secretary General for mobilizing communication telecommunication and ICT infrastructure in the calamity stricken areas.
The President also acknowledged ITU’s assistance in terms of capacity building of the telecommunication and IT public sector human resource through award of fellowship for participation in the international/regional meeting, seminars, workshops and training courses.
He called upon the Secretary General ITU to assist the country in creating an environment where equal opportunities could be ensured for the female segment in the area of information and communications. He said that there was an urgent need in the country to assess ICT requirements for the female gender and to develop appropriate strategies to equip Pakistani women with ICT education and skill.
The President said advanced ICT education and skills in women would not only help our women in the ICT sector but, combined with the sectoral knowledge such as healthcare, language skills and business management, it would also open new vistas of opportunities for the women thus empowering them to play their due role in the nation building process.
Dr Hamadoun Toure thanked the President for meeting and assured that ITU would continue to assist Pakistan in promoting ICTs and accessibility of IT enabled services (ITeS) such as e-government, e-education and e-health services.
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