Minister Sharma urges private sector to prepare IT sector plan and projects

Kathmandu, Feb 27: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma, has appealed to the private sector to remain prepared with plans and projects in IT sector for the upcoming Investment Summit.     

The Minister said so in a meeting with the representatives of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries' IT Council, the American Chambers of Commerce in Nepal, and the Nepal Association for Software and IT Services Companies.     

According to her, it was necessary to present the investment plans and programmes in the IT sector as in other sectors in the Investment Summit and urged the entrepreneurs to come up with projects and plans in IT sectors.     

Underscoring the need for setting up Project Bank in the IT sector, Minister Sharma requested the private sector to furnish suggestions on what can be done in the IT sector regarding the government's policies, programme and budget.     

According to her, although the government had adopted digital transformation as its strategy since the implementation of the Digital Nepal Framework, in lack of common vision towards IT sector there was no conducive environment for investment in IT sector.     

Thus, she emphasized forging a common understanding of IT among the government and private sector and at the people's level. "There should not be a delay in identifying investors and human resources in IT sector," she said, calling for cooperation from the private sector to ensure prosperity in the country through digital transformation.     

The Minister informed that laws on IT and cyber securities were in the offing.     

Similarly, the representatives pressed for creating an enabling environment to attract huge investments in IT sector.     

Indicating towards tremendous possibilities of the country's IT sector, they also drew the attention of the Minister towards formulation of necessary laws and development infrastructures accordingly.     

Calling for common understanding among the government agencies regarding IT and start-up enterprises, they pledged their cooperation to the government to foster the country's IT sector. (RSS)