Press Release:
State Minister for Information & Broadcasting Mr. Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari has inaugurated today ‘National Rabta Information Portal (www.pakistan.pk), a single source facilitation web portal developed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), providing information and content repository to information seekers from within and outside the country at one place. Secretary Cabinet, Mr. Abdur Rauf Chaudhry and Member Telecom, Ministry of IT were also present during the ceremony.
Speaking at the occasion, State Minister for Information & Broadcasting Mr. Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari said that the Government of Pakistan has a strong believe in utilizing Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to move into the era of electronic service delivery (e-Services) by simplifying procedures, and making credible and timely information available to all the citizens at all levels. The electronic access of information will improve the productivity and efficiency of public and private organizations. This would ultimately contribute to economic activities and bring benefits to the country. He further said that the government is committed to promote freedom of expression and access to information in the greater public interest. The State Minister congratulated Chairman PTA and his team, on the development of such an informative portal for Pakistan. He said that it will bring plenty of information not only to the residents and ex-patriats Pakistanis but also to the foreigners visiting Pakistan.
In his opening remarks, Chairman PTA Dr. Mohammed Yaseen said that every information medium has its own importance and impact on the society. Nevertheless during the last decade internet has emerged as the most important source for information dissemination, in addition to TV and radio. He emphasized that the outreach of internet has recently touched 2 Billion users mark globally. He briefed about the objectives behind the development of a dedicated ‘National Information Portal’ the primary objective being to create a single source facilitation web portal that allows users to access any and all information regarding Pakistan that is already available electronically. It has a theme of ‘connecting the un-connected’ Internet links so any user who visits the portal can be able to access information from a single source. He said that the portal would act as an enabler platform for fast access to one source of information and will increase effectiveness of public and private sector. The local information search via this portal would help retrieve information thus saving international bandwidth cost, he added further. Chairman PTA further informed the dignitaries that PTA has also planned to develop the Urdu and Mobile version of this National Portal in order to provide more facilitation to the internet community of Pakistan.
The web portal has currently more than 1000 web links. Similarly it has 84 downloadable forms of various categories placed on it. It also contains links on educational institutions of the country, hospitals of Pakistan, print and electronic media, federal and provincial institutions and private sector.
Khurram A.Mehran
Director (PR)
