KATHMANDU, AUGUST 22
Minister of Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma has said Nepal is eager to collaborate with the international sector for the development of information and technology.
Minister Sharma said this during a meeting with Ambassador of Republic of Korea to Nepal, Park Tae-Young at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Singha Durbar today. She said that Nepal is ready to cooperate with all for the development of information technology.
Stating that the Government of Nepal has taken information technology as the main basis of prosperity, the minister said the government has announced it will invest one per cent of the annual capital budget in research and innovation from this year. Minister Sharma shared that Nepal had recently issued the Cyber Security Policy and was preparing to set up a Cyber Security Centre soon. While appreciating the cooperation provided by the Republic of Korea in setting up the data centre now in operation, she said the Centre is to be made further secure and reliable.
The CIT minister said preparations have been made to extend internet facility to all the local level wards within the current fiscal year and 5G services throughout the country. "Nepal will have made a big leap in the information technology sector when internet is expanded to all the wards. We are willing for exchange of G2G and P2P cooperation with the international sector, including South Korea for the development of information technology in Nepal," she added.
During the meeting, Ambassador Tae-Young maintained that the cyber security policy and initiative passed by Nepal for cyber security are significant. Noting that South Korea is the fourth country in terms of foreign direct investment in Nepal, he said his country wished to increase investment in the information technology sector.
The ambassador said Korea had been extending much cooperation to Nepal not only at the governmental level but also in the private sector. He informed that Samsung was providing assistance to the Innovation Centre at Pulchowk Campus.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 23, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
