PM launches digiskills program to train one million youth

ISLAMABAD (PRESS RELEASE)

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abassi Thursday launched the DigiSkills program aimed at imparting IT skills to one million youth through online modules and assured that his government would fully facilitate the private sector in this initiative.

Addressing the event here at the PM Office, the prime minister said his government was committed to support the private sector in its ventures of introducing cutting edge technology and taking the country forward.

The DigiSkills program has been launched jointly by the Virtual University and Ignite – National Technology Fund.

Prime Minister Abbasi said the government would ensure availability of the broadband across the country and facilitate e-commerce. He stressed the need to further work on it and said the entrepreneurship was a unique skill and only the private sector has the ability to take it forward. He said the world was changing rapidly owing to progress in the information technology and said while the governments were very slow to change, the private sector was at the forefront in adopting cutting edge technology.

He said the government has delivered in many fields; built motorways, sea ports, airports besides building new power plants. however the success in information technology can be rightly termed an important contribution over the past five years, he added.

The Prime Minister said the Digiskills program would equip the youth to get online jobs and earn money in a non-traditional way. He said he has great faith in the youth of the country and expressed confidence that the women would lead in these areas.

Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunications Anusha Rehman described the DigiSkills program as an important part of Information Technology initiative of the government. She said the program would create online employment opportunities to enable youth to earn 200 to 300 dollars per month. She said with the help of this program, youth from across the country will provide services across the globe.

Anusha said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had a manifesto to bring technology into use for creating employment opportunities in the country and said the dream was now getting materialised.

She said Pakistan was emerging as an IT-leader in the world and the PML-N government was committed to brighten the future of its young generation. The young children were also being imparted skills in various areas and would encourage them to do online courses, she added.

The event was attended among others by CEO Ignite Yusuf Hussain and Rector Virtual University Naveed Malik and representatives of different IT companies.