By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Jordan to Pakistan, Ibrahim Almadani has said that he would play a role for enhancing strong cooperation between Jordan and Pakistan in information technology, pharmaceutical, defence and other potential sectors for achieving mutually beneficial outcomes for the economies of both countries.
He expressed these views during his visit along with President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, to Fazal Software Technology Park and KSL Software Technology Park in I-9 Industrial Area, Islamabad. He visited various IT companies working in these software technology parks including Codes Orbit (Pvt) Ltd., Tangent Technologies (Pvt) Ltd, Uforia Info Tech Solutions, Northbay Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd., MicroMerger (Pvt.) Ltd., Discreet Logix, Bitsole, Mfsys, Secure Tech, Wisemen Innovations and Spartans Global.
Fatma Azim Senior Vice President, Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI, Mian Shaukat Masud, former President ICCI and owner of Fazal Software Technology Park, Omais Khattak Executive Member ICCI and owner of KSL Technology Park, Umar Hussain, Shakeel Munir, Hafiz Bilal Munir, Mian Shiraz Masud, and others were also present at the occasion. ICCI has already conducted a visit of Ambassador of Jordan to some pharmaceutical industries of Islamabad.
Ambassador Ibrahim Almadani appreciated the state-of-the-art facilities in the software technology parks for the IT companies and commended the efforts of IT professionals for producing world class IT products and services. He said that the IT sector was a key pillar of Jordan’s economy as the government was making efforts to position it as a major IT player and solutions exporter. He said that Pakistani IT companies should explore JVs and investment in Jordan that would enable them to enhance their export to the regional countries.
Speaking at the occasion, President ICCI Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan briefed the Jordanian envoy about the potential of Pakistan’s IT industry that was achieving steady growth to greater role in the economic development of the country. He said that Pakistani IT companies were exporting their products and services to over 100 companies around the world including USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Arica and Australia. He said that the purpose of conducting a Jordanian envoy to local IT companies was to show him their quality products and services. He said that ICCI would bring diplomats of more countries to local industries so that they could see the export potential of their products and play a role in enhancing Pakistan’s exports.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the government was focused on promoting the digital economy and emphasized that the steps should be taken to further promote the IT industry so that the IT sector could play a more effective role in transforming Pakistan into a knowledge economy.
He said that if the government extended more cooperation to the IT industry, this industry has the potential to enhance its annual exports up to US$ 10 billion within a few years. He assured that ICCI would like to work with Jordanian embassy for developing strong business linkages between Pakistan and Jordan so that private sectors could play a leading role in promoting bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries.
