ONLINE IT FORUM MEETING BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND BULGARIA

Islamabad :The Embassy of Pakistan in Bulgaria, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications of Pakistan and Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications of Bulgaria organized an Online IT Forum meeting between IT associations/ of the two countries on 3 November 2021, says a press release received here today from Bulgaria. From Bulgarian side, in addition to Director (Information Technology) from the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Executive Director of Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA), Chief Expert Investment Services of the InvestBulgaria Agency, and Board Member of Bulgarian Association of Information Technology (BAIT) gave presentations on the occasion. From Pakistani side, Member (International Coordination) and Member (IT) from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication as well as Managing Director of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), Chief Executive Officer of IGNITE and Secretary General of Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & ITES (P@SHA) presented useful information on IT regulatory frameworks and services, as well as roles played by their respective associations in their promotion. Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of Pakistan to Bulgaria, Ms. Mariam Aftab said that today’s event was the first of its kind and had been organized to foster collaboration between IT firms and associations of the two countries. She highlighted that Pakistan and Bulgaria had a lot of potential to collaborate in this important field as both countries were focusing on digitization and enhancement of their existing IT infrastructure. She made special mention of Prime Minister of Pakistan’s ‘Digital Pakistan Policy’ under which ministries/government departments in Pakistan were undertaking the initiatives for automation of their work processes/services. She also underscored the importance of establishing close linkages and collaboration between the private sector and respective IT-related associations of the two countries to not only learn from experiences but also augment each other’s capabilities where required. At the end of meeting, it was decided that the two sides would continue collaborating for establishing useful linkages between IT associations/firms of the two countries. It was also decided to explore the possibility of arranging a separate online B-2-B meeting session of firms dealing with IT-related services for which modalities would be discussed after elections in Bulgaria.