Wednesday, April 9, 2008

USAID-CSF releases World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008; Pakistan ranks 89 among 127 countries


The Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF), partner institute of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Pakistan, today released the “WEF Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008.” The report ranks Pakistan 89 out of 127 countries in terms of nations’ preparedness to effectively promote business, improve investment climate and develop infrastructure.

“It is evident that technology is playing a leading role in accelerating economic growth and promoting development,” said CSF’s Chief Executive Officer, Arthur Bayhan. “A coherent government vision on information and communications technologies, coupled with an early focus on education and innovation, are keys to spur network readiness and to lay the foundations for sustainable growth.”

This year’s ranking shows a five-point decline for Pakistan from last year when it was ranked 84 out of 122 countries. Although telecom operators are aggressively upgrading their network infrastructure to launch broadband data and multimedia services, Pakistan still ranks low on the cost of broadband and on the security of Internet servers. Furthermore, the number of days and procedures to enforce a contract in Pakistan is also a key challenge in achieving sustainable impact.

According to the Global Information Technology Report of the World Economic Forum, Pakistan is ranked at 89 out of 127 countries, which is a 5 step down ranking from last year, where Pakistan was ranked at 84 out of 122 countries. The decline is a result of a weakened political and regulatory environment (100) and the infrastructure environment (101), which refers to network facilities, network capacity and capabilities. Although telecom operators are aggressively upgrading their network infrastructure to launch broadband data and multimedia services, Pakistan is still ranked low on the cost of broadband (100) and on the security of Internet servers (97). Furthermore, the number of days and procedures to enforce a contract (112) in Pakistan is also one of the key issues in achieving sustainable impact.

Published for the seventh consecutive year, the WEF Global Information Technology Report is the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of information and communication technologies on nations’ development and competitiveness.

Irene Mia, Senior Economist and Co-Editor of the Report, will give an live online video briefing on Wednesday, April 9, 2008 from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM Pakistan Standard Time at: www.competitiveness.org.pk/GITR2008.

Support for CSF is part of the $1.5 billion in aid that the U.S. Government is providing, through USAID, to Pakistan over five years to improve economic growth, education, health, governance and earthquake reconstruction.

Watch Video Interviews with the Report editors and contributors:








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