The 21st Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Award concluded on high notes highlighting the potential of Pakistan’s IT industry, talent, startup ecosystem, and scope of exports to the new markets.
The five-day event ended successfully after a series of activities including the presentation of products, judging sessions, business matchmaking, startup sessions, and cultural shows.
Overall, the winners have been conferred awards in 25 categories each including a winner and two merit awards.
On the occasion, Minister of IT and Telecommunications Syed Amin Ul Haque was excited to see the success of the event, he said, “Pakistan has been privileged to host APICTA Awards for the first time in history which has been possible due to the unwavering commitment of the ministry and untiring efforts of the local IT companies under the umbrella of Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA). We ensured that the start of the event happens from the Prime Minister’s house to give it the right mileage and coverage for a strong impact.”
He further elaborated on how hosting over 150 delegates was an ambitious task, and how all stakeholders including the ministry and its associated departments; Tech Destination Pakistan, Ignite, APICTA, and P@SHA, accomplished a tremendous job to record history in the country.
Chairman APICTA, Stan Singh said, “Most of the foreign delegates visited Pakistan for the first time and they have now become ambassadors of Pakistan for promoting its soft image in their economies.” He added that the spirit of APICTA is to promote collaboration, partnership, business activities, and knowledge exchange among economies, to ultimately uplift the standard of the IT industry in the region.
Out of 25 categories, Pakistan was declared the winner in seven categories, Hong Kong and Thailand each won six winner awards; Brunei was declared the winner in 2 categories; China, Australia, and Sri Lanka won, one winner award each. Besides the winner (Gold), two merit awards were given in each category.
For the finale’, Hong Kong announced it’s winning the bid to be the host for APICTA 2023. Advisory Judge APICTA 2022, Senior Advisor PricewaterhouseCoopers & Secretary General (Honorary) Hong Kong Computer Society, Stephen Lau took the stage to formally announce and introduce the Hong Kong economy as the next host. n

Orient Energy Systems (OES) participated in the 60MW Metro Power Group & 50MW Gul Ahmed Electric inauguration ceremony on 30th November and received an award for successful completion of Erection Supervision, Testing & Commissioning and electrical installation of a substation at Metro & Gul-Ahmed Wind Power Project.
The Honorable Federal Minister of Power and Energy, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, H.E. Ms. Sarah Mooney, Deputy Trade Commissioner and Director Trade at British International Investment (BII) and Mr. Danish Iqbal Alimohamed, Chairman of Metro & Gul-Ahmed Wind Project appreciated the services of OES for the completion of two projects.
OES Wind portfolio is extremely diverse and we take pride in being the pioneer service provider in Pakistan’s wind corridor. The total capacity of OES services in the wind sector has reached approx. 460MW, our team has always managed to deliver to the best of their abilities and has made OES a market leader in the renewable energy segment.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan finally declared the new Reko Diq mine deal legal and urged all provinces to amend their laws in accordance with the agreement.
An agreement in principle was reached between the government of Pakistan, the provincial government of Balochistan and Barrick Gold Corporation earlier this year for the reconstitution and restart of the project, which has been on hold since 2011.
The court also observed that the Balochistan Assembly was taken into confidence regarding the agreement. The order stated that the law did not allow agreements on national resources in violation of the Constitution
Barrick Gold Corporation assured that laws for wages would be abided by and most of the labour force would be recruited from Pakistan, the order said.
The court was further told that the project would be used for investing in social initiatives and skill development schemes would also be launched under it, the order added.
In October, President Dr Arif Alvi had filed a reference in the Supreme Court of Pakistan to seek an opinion on the Reko Diq case on the advice of the prime minister.
SC had reserved the verdict on the reference last week, and announced it today.
It said the deal was legal, and environment-friendly as well. Prior to announcing the verdict, SC had sought the help of foreign experts on the subject.
At a press conference in Islamabad in July, Barrick President Mark Bristow had said that the first phase of Reko Diq copper-gold project will be completed by 2027-28, and the scheme will convert it into a “world-class mine and transform Balochistan”.
It will be operated by Canada’s Barrick, which will have 50% ownership. 25% will be owned by the Balochistan government and 25% by Pakistani state-owned enterprises.
“We will bring capital and technology to this project,” Bristow had said at the time.
Both sides are committed to show the world how partnerships on huge projects can deliver excellent results, he said.
Investment for the first phase of the project is estimated at $4 billion and the firm is looking for a consortium of investors to pour in $2 billion out of this value, he said.
“We have reached out to International Finance Corporation, co-investors and export and import agencies around the world,” Bristow said. “This is one of the largest fixed foreign investment project that Pakistan has ever had and it is the largest in Balochistan.”
The Apex Committee, headed by Minister for Finance and Tethyan Copper Company Pakistan (Private) Limited shareholders, had agreed to a framework for the settlement and revival of the Reko Diq Project in March 2022. — ERMD

Pakistan has topped the overall score in the China Index 2022, a database that ranks how much influence Beijing has on countries around the world along a set of domains, from foreign and domestic policy to technology and the economy.
The China Index has been launched by the Doublethink Lab and China In The World network as the first cross-regional project to objectively measure and visualize the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s overseas influence through comparable data.
This year’s edition ranks China’s influence in 82 country profiles across nine Domains: Academia, Domestic Politics, Economy, Foreign Policy, Law Enforcement, Media, Military, Society, and Technology. Each Domain comprises 11 indicators devised by the China Index Committee, a group of renowned China experts, each of which corresponds to an observable phenomenon of PRC influence.
“As of November 2022, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Singapore are ranked as most exposed to PRC influence,” the Index said on its website. “Paraguay, North Macedonia, and Albania are ranked as least influenced.”
“Globally, PRC influence is assessed to be most prominent in the Domains of Technology, Foreign Policy, and Domestic Politics, and weakest in those of Military and Society.”
Pakistan ranked eighth in the economy category, second in military, and first in technology and foreign policy.
“Through the Index, we seek to establish an interactive world map that visualizes the PRC’s evolving influence in different countries,” the Index website said. “We expect the China Index to serve as a reference tool that enhances global understanding and awareness of PRC influence, particularly for academics, media, civil society networks, and policymakers.”
China and Pakistan are longtime diplomatic and strategic allies. Beijing has been involved in major mining, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan, including the deep-water Gwadar port, all part of the approximately $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. — ERMD

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) in southern Pakistan, vowing to connect remote areas of the country, particularly in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces, and uplift them through development.
The 306-kilometer-long, six-lane Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway is scheduled to be completed within 30 months at a total cost of Rs307 billion. It will pass through the districts of Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matiari, Benazirabad, Nowshero Feroze, Khairpur, and Sukkur in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province.
Pending since 2016, the M-6 motorway is the only missing link in connecting the country’s southern port city of Karachi to the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Addressing a ceremony to mark the launch of the project, the prime minister said the development of road infrastructure to connect all provinces of the country, particularly remote areas, was crucial to strengthen the economy.
“Connecting far-flung areas of Balochistan and Sindh would pave the way for economic and social development of the country besides creating new business opportunities,” the premier said. “Without the development of Balochistan, Pakistan cannot prosper.”
Balochistan is a sparsely populated, mountainous, desert region bordering Afghanistan and Iran and home to a separatist insurgency that has sometimes waned and sometimes intensified over the years. It is the largest but least developed province of Pakistan.
While Sindh houses the Pakistani port city of Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial capital, vast swaths of the province are backward with some of the lowest indicators in the country for education, health and infrastructure.