Kathmandu, Dec 12: Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma underscored increasing digital collaboration between Nepal and India for prosperity. Minister Sharma said so in a special address at a seminar titled ‘Digital Public Infrastructure: Innovating together towards India-Nepal digital bridges’ organized jointly by the Embassy of India in Nepal, UNDP Office in Nepal and the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Calling the authorities in the both countries for coordinating efforts in the technology sector, Sharma urged them to collaborate for development and use of technology and to build a prosperous nation through the optimization of technology.
Stating that India had a significant support in the optimal use of information technology in the country, the Minister expressed her hope that support from the Indian side would be continued in coming days.
According to her, the incumbent government had highly prioritized usage of information of technology for the overall development of the country and the use of IT, thus, has been increased in public service delivery. Informing that Nepal was rapidly moving towards digital transformation, she viewed that the various development and experiments done by neigbouring India in the sector of technology were also important for Nepal.
According to her, the government of Nepal acknowledging information technology as an important tool had begun delivering public services digitally.
Also speaking at the seminar, Indian Ambassador for Nepal Naveen Srivastava asserted that the use of technology would be more important in the developing countries. The Indian envoy pledged that India was ready to collaborate with Nepal in the use of information technology.
Stating that India and Nepal shared close and friendly relations for centuries, he said that the bilateral agreements inked between Nepal and India during the visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda to India were in the process of implementation. Similarly, Dr Pramod Varma, Co-Chairperson of the India’s Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure shared that India was very ahead in the development and usage of digital public infrastructures. He opined that prosperity could be achieved through the proper use of technology.
Likewise, House of Representatives member Dr Swarnim Wagle said that it was encouraging to see Nepal’s information technology products being purchased in the world market. In the context of young generation of the country continuing to seek greener pastures, he observed, information technology sector had raised the possibility of creating jobs for the foreign aspiring youths at home itself.
