The announcement of the establishment of Special Technology Zones (STZs) in Pakistan is a groundbreaking step and a powerful indicator of the commitment of the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the technical development and sustainability of the digital environment of the country.
The main objective of setting up STZs is to provide the information technology sector with incentives to make it grow for the good of the country.
Cheng Xizhong, a visiting professor at the Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said this in his article published on Sunday by China Economic Net (CEN).
According to Prime Minister Imran Khan, while addressing the launch ceremony of the Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) in Islamabad, information technology is a transformative field that needs to be utilized to meet the demands of the modern world.
As humanity has witnessed the agricultural revolution and industrial revolution, it is now going through the revolution of knowledge. We have clearly seen the importance of information technology in the process of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Imran Khan pointed out that during the coronavirus pandemic, only those businesses that responded well in time to information technology benefited.
Cheng Xizhong stated in his latest article that Pakistan is committed to the growth of the digital economy. Information technology and the digital economy are closely linked, and the digital economy is being boosted by new generations of information technology.
Cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, the mobile Internet, artificial intelligence and other information technology of the modern century are driving the global industrial divide, economic restructuring and reshaping the pattern of global economic competition.
“I therefore believe that Pakistan is striving to build the ecology of the core technology industry, to realize the coordinated development of the industrial chain, the value chain and the innovation chain, and to promote the digital economy’s rapid development,” he added.
He said that the IT industry is a labor-intensive industry that can generate tens of thousands of opportunities for jobs. For young people with a higher technical education, it is the most appropriate. With the world’s second-youngest population, Pakistan will employ its youth by using the information technology industry. The STZs can also benefit Pakistani nationals employed in other countries.
The information technology of China and the digital economy are rapidly evolving. With about 28,000 students studying in China, Pakistan is China’s second-largest source of international students. After graduation, we should encourage these students to return home, to make contributions to the growth of information technology and the digital economy, and to the realization of the four ‘zations’ in their own country, namely computerization, digitization, industrialization and modernization.