The USF Board of Directors, in a meeting held today under the chairmanship of Ms. Anusha Rehman, took in to consideration and approved the auction of three important broadband for sustainable development projects, i.e. Khyber Lot, Mohmand Lot and Small Lot-2.
The Board also approved to award the contract for Establishment of Computer Labs in Government Girls Schools in Rural Areas of Islamabad Capital Territory, Phase 1.
It also approved the phase-II of the ICT for Girls project of establishing computer labs amd computer skills training program in 119 Girl’s Institutions of Islamabad Capital Territory.
The Board took into consideration the agenda pertaining to the provision of Information and Communication Technology to micro, small and medium enterprises in Pakistan.
The micro, small and medium enterprises in Pakistan can be termed as the backbone of the economy because they constitute nearly 80% of the enterprises in Pakistan.
Pakistan has a population of around 200 million and these small to medium enterprises employ some 65 million individuals. The Board discussed that by providing these enterprises the access to digital platform and bringing MSMEs online, the real potential can be reaped and will surely create opportunity to propel Pakistan to higher-income country.
In this regard the Board directed the USF management to carry out a market study to understand the landscape of issues in ICT for MSMEs and prepare recommendations.
Board members including the Secretary IT; Mr. Rizwan Bashir Khan, Member Telecom; Mr. Mudassar Hussain, Mr. Aamir Ibrahim; CEO Jazz, Mr. Azfar Manzoor; VP ISPS; Mr. Kaukab Iqbal Chairman Consumers Association and the senior management of USF Co also attended the meeting.
