Microsoft Pakistan has said that that business visit of Punjab Government official to Egypt was reasonable and necessary for the procurement of a deal between Microsoft Pakistan and Punjab Government.
Microsoft clarified this after a news report, published in Wall Street Journal, alleged the company for bribing the Punjab Government official by arranging his visit to Egypt along with his wife on business class airfare and a stay at a luxurious hotel.
According to Wall Street Journal, a tipster had emailed Microsoft in January 2013 alleging officials at Microsoft’s Pakistan paying for the said trip of Punjab Government Official to win a three-year contract – worth Rs. 1 billion – to supply the government with its Microsoft Office software.
Microsoft exclusively shared this clarification with ProPakistani and admitted that company investigated the visit of Punjab Government official and all the details regarding the trip.
After investigation, Microsoft Pakistan found that the visit in question was a reference visit. Company – after closely looking at all the details – concluded that the visit of the Punjab government official was necessary and expenses were reasonable.
Microsoft Pakistan said that company takes such cases very seriously and all reported instances of bribery are properly investigated by compliance experts.
Microsoft said that it directly signed Enterprise License Agreement with Punjab Government and that no reseller, distributor or any third-party was involved in the agreement.
Of course, free software cannot “fund” such visits so it doesn’t get used.
Imagine what Rs 1 billion in the hands of plan9 innovators could create for government use & cost cutting. And then realize it’ll never be a reality.
lol
For 100 Million USD, I would readily provide an all expenses paid trip and look the other way.
Here is the problem — Microsoft can spin the fact that they paid for a GOP official to visit a refence customer in Egypt, but under US law, this is considered bribing of public officials. Microsoft is correct that the issue was internally investigated, but what it conveniently forgot to mention is that two of its top officials were summoned to Dubai and forcibly asked to resign. Microsoft offcials also visited Pakistan and seized laptops and e-mail records. So, Microsoft needs to explain why it had to fire two of its top management employees if there was no wrongdoing. Microsoft should also explain who sponsored CM Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to UAE and for what purpose?
How come u know this detail… share the reference
So MS didn’t tell why the visit was necessary? Why Egypt?
Lagaate Raho Choona Awaam ko
Ha Ha Ha.
Its Well said that Paksitan are EverGreen..
They Made Those to Bribe ,Who Were Famous for their Integrity.
Geo Paksitani
I am not surprised ….As Punjab Govt is under the authority of Corrupt Leader mean to say Noora League…..this is nor a big Scandle .:-p
Still Better Than All Parties In Sindh & Balochistan….
The Punjab IT board is fully corrupted by Microsoft. They had introduced tender for cloud services but it was all based on Microsoft specification and as usual Microsoft won this tender. No local companies was allowed to participate such as Viper, New Horizon Tech or DWP.
See the website now http://www.pitbcloud.pk/
Everybody knows Microsoft is still far back in cloud hosting services. They only have Office 365 product that is running from Cloud in America.
Shabaz Sharif was made fool by the government officials on payroll of Microsoft.
You are living in a cave, MS Azure has already entered the Billion dollar club of revenue generation and according to predictions of top american think tanks it will be the direct competitor of Amazon cloud services very soon. So update yourself.
if the allegation are not proved (as said by MS)thn what are reason of so much shouting.Come on guys.show some patience and get back to work .Har baat kaa batangrd
Does it justify for our PK Government to spend $1 Billion on just paper licensing?
Shame on Microsoft. these foreign companies know how to cheat and then feign innocence. it’s like someone said about foreign umpires that they know how to affect results of matches without appearing as if they are cheating. It’s all about perception. Goras koi dudh key dhuley huey nahin. They know how to buy out officials in poor countries to get decisions in their favor.
LOL 50 rupay ki CD hai mere bhai. Bill gates bhaya ko kabhi Saddar Regal, Naz Plaza, Uni Center aur Techno City tu visit karwao suicide kar lay ga :P
china is the father of piracy and pakistan is nothing in this race.. so first send them to china and india… millions and millions of pirated software CD’s are available…
Dude why you are angry :) Who else is going to pay If he is getting it for free. Torrent is the solution of every problem. I accept that I use pirated software’s because I can’t afford it. Everyone here is downloading from torrent and free websites. Then why blaming only China and India they have a huge population that’s why they are giant in everything, they believe in quantity not quality as we know. But first you have to improve buy Pakistani products promote your own brands. I always ask for Pakistani made shirts because I know Pakistani shirts and cloth are best in the world. Improve yourself then blame others.
Dont worry Guys ,We are not alone in this ..
First Winner in Software Piracy is Armenia
and on 10th Number Comes our Champion ,Pakistan