ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that Pakistan’s Information Technology exports will rise with Huawei’s annual professional training to 300,000 Pakistani students.

Talking to a four-member delegation led by Ethan Sun, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Huawei Pakistan, the prime minister stressed that collaboration with Huawei was essential for providing advanced IT training in various fields, especially for young people.

The prime minister emphasized that the government values its sustainable partnership with Huawei in Pakistan’s digital economy. The government will prioritize including both women and the youth of Balochistan in this training program.

The prime minister stated that promoting the digital economy requires building a strong foundation of talented professionals within the country.

The prime minister stated that the recent visit to Huawei’s headquarters in China was highly beneficial.

The prime minister emphasized that digitizing government institutions was crucial for implementing a modern, automated, and efficient governance system.

The delegation briefed the prime minister regarding the progress of ongoing projects under the cooperation agreement between Pakistan and Huawei for the Digital Pakistan Program.

The prime minister was informed that a new Massive Open Online Courses system for IT training has been developed and will be launched with the support of provincial governments.

The delegation suggested backing the development of a national data center in line with Pakistan’s national cloud strategy.

This initiative will improve cloud services and lead to considerable cost reductions. Huawei was interested in collaborating

with the Pakistani government to transform Islamabad into a smart city. As part of the Islamabad Smart City project, various services such as traffic management, health care, education, and parking will be accessible through a digital platform.

Minister of State for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Prime Minister’s Coordinator Rana Ihsaan Afzal, and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.