ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday said the government would continue its economic and investment policies to attract more foreign investment.

Inaugurating the 10th session of the General Assembly of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity, he said the government was committed to promote privatization, liberalization and deregulation of the economy to attract more investment.

He said the government had taken concrete steps to involve private sector in all fields to speed up economic growth and bring a change in the life of the common man.

He said that although country was receiving investment in all sectors, but the telecommunication sector had made a tremendous improvement during the last three years with the involvement of private parties in mobile phone operations. Now the telecommunication had become the backbone of the economy, he said.

He said that with the introduction of deregulation, tariff rates had been reduced considerably which had benefited directly to the consumers.

He said that though tele-density in Pakistan had risen from 4.5 to about 19 per cent, there was a need to work for enhancing connectivity in the rural areas, which were far behind in the telecommunication.

Mr Shaukat Aziz said constant improvement in telecommunications was a highway to growth and urged the member countries of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity to share the best practices and devise a comprehensive and integrated strategy for the development of telecom sector in the region.

He also emphasised them to work actively for reducing digital divide and benefit the developing nations from the advancement of telecom technologies.

The prime minister said that though Pakistan had made successful efforts in attracting foreign investment, it needed more concentration to attract more.

He referred fault occurred in the international off-shore fibre network last year and said that besides moving forward in the telecom sector, the country had made some mistakes which created hurdles in the smooth running of the system.

He told that a substitute off-shore fibre optical link would be opened next month while optical fibre was being laid to link with India through land route. He expressed the confidence that this kind of fault would never re-occur in future.

The prime minister urged the member countries to work together and share good practices to ensure prosperity and peace and a safer digital world.

In his address of welcome, Minister for Communication Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari highlighted the performance of the telecom sector and said the country would achieve 30 per cent tele-density during the next four years.

He said the telecom sector had attracted $4 billion investment during the last two years and expressed the hope that it would receive $3-4 billion during the next five years for developing its infrastructure.

He said the government was concentrating on expanding telecommunication network to the under-served and un-served areas of the country and making necessary legislation to protect the investment in this sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Asia Pacific Telecommunity President Mr Vinod Vaish emphasised the member countries to concentrate on providing quality telecom services to the people on affordable cost and improve their telecom services through capacity building and development of infrastructure.

He urged member countries to make a strategy to speed up efforts for expanding telecommunication facilities in their rural areas.

The delegates from 23 countries of the 34 member countries are attending the three-day General Assembly session. It will finalize a strategic plan to sustain growth in the telecom sector in the member countries during the next three years.