Muhammad Amir Malik, CEO, COMSATS Internet Services speaks to Teletimes International
Mr. Muhammad Amir Malik is the CEO of Comsats Internet Services, a premier Internet Service Provider in Pakistan. Prior to his role at Comsats, he was Member (IT) in the Ministry of IT and Telecommunications. Mr. Amir Malik recently spoke to Teletimes International in an exclusive interview. However, before touching base with the on-going issues regarding the ICT industry, he chose to highlight Pakistan as it is for our international readers in the following words.
“Pakistan is a country with a rich history, beautiful culture and resilient people. It is so important for the international community to realize the full potential of this country. Terrorism and economic upheaval are the unfortunate aspects that have troubled Pakistan; however, despite it all there is another true face of Pakistan where there is an overabundance of business prospects and skilled talent that are just waiting to be tapped by the global community. Recently in the 2013/14 fiscal year, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Pakistan has soared-up to 4.14 percent. Pakistan is undergoing economic liberalization which shall be a harbinger of privatization of all government corporations, which will invariably hike-up foreign investment and decrease budget deficit. Pakistani reserves have increased $16 billion in March 2015, and are expected to reach $23 billion by the end of the year.
Pakistan has a diverse range of exports , to name a few, agricultural goods, furniture, marble, textiles, leather goods, rugs, sporting gear, surgical instruments, defense equipment (submarines, tanks, and radars), engineering goods and software. China and Pakistan have entered into a comprehensive plan of “economic corridor”, which will serve as driver for connectivity between South Asia and East Asia. Pakistan’s services sector accounts for 53.3% of the GDP. Transport, storage, communications, finance, and insurance account for 24% of this sector, and wholesale and retail trade about 30%. Pakistan is trying to promote the information industry and other modern service industries through incentives such as long-term tax holidays. Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry grossed over $2.8 billion in 2013, however it is expected to exceed the $10 billion mark by 2018. SMEs have a significant contribution in the total GDP of Pakistan, and generate significant employment opportunities for skilled workers and entrepreneurs.
At another front, our tourism industry has continued to progress despite security issues. Tourist attractions in Pakistan range from the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa civilizations, to the Himalayan hill stations for people interested in winter sports or mountaineering especially to the K2 Mountain. There is a lot for the world to experience here in terms of historical monuments, museums and a rich heritage in music and arts.
With a population of almost 176 million inhabitants and significant natural wealth, Pakistan has a potentially big market. All in all there are immense business opportunities to be taken advantage of in the service sector for IT, telecommunications, utilities and banking. Through different international forums, we need to convey a strong message of confidence and reassurance to the international community that Pakistan is open for business.”
Further discussing the role of the new government in Pakistan and its policies, Mr. Amir commented the following.
“Pakistan’s government has successfully taken on the challenge of attempting to spark economic growth, resolve energy shortages and deal with growing extremism all at the same time. For the 6 Key Indicators including Economy, Pak-India Relations, Overall Foreign Policy, Terrorism control, Corruption control and Inflation control the present government has received positive comparative net performance ratings. Economy has recorded a positive 48% comparative net performance, Pak India Relations 22%, Foreign Policy 33%, Terrorism control 31%, Corruption control 36% and Inflation control recorded a positive 20% net change. On issues of controlling inflation, terrorism and corruption, there have been continuous efforts and much improvement is already significant.
The poverty level has decreased by 10%, leading to higher purchasing power. The positive GDP growth rate over the past few years has resulted in the development of the country’s industrial and service sectors. Islamabad has steadily raised development spending in recent years, including a 50% budget allocation for development. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attraction policy led by the government (privatizations, equal treatment between foreigner and local investors, tax incentives, etc.), and the efforts made in terms of economic reform are the pedestals of Pakistani development. The Government of Pakistan is acutely conscious of the immense job growth opportunities in service sector and has launched aggressive privatization of telecommunications, utilities and banking which has also been an incentive for foreign investment in Pakistan.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 420 new companies after which the total corporate portfolio has been raised to 63,238. Foreign investment has come in 20 new companies that comprise trading, construction, healthcare, IT, mining, real estate development, services, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages and tourism sector. It is pertinent to mention here that the total authorized capital has increased by PKR 16.25 billion.
These improvements have definitely led the international community to show a keen interest for investing in Pakistan. Many cooperation and equipment agreements have been signed recently with China, especially in the sectors of energy and defense. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Gulf countries are the other major investors in Pakistan. The government has facilitated foreign investors as a result several countries including China, United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Norway are starting new investments in Pakistan. This trend is going to progress even more in the next few years and we shall hopefully be seeing many areas of mutual cooperation with the international community.”
The excerpts from the Q/A with Mr. Amir are given in the following for the interest of our readers.
Teletimes: What makes the IT sector grow so much faster compared to other sectors? Is this growth target realistic?
Amir Malik: Pakistan is in a very exciting and decisive stage of economic growth. Decisions taken now will have a far-reaching impact on our future. Politically things can’t be any better to steer our economy in a new direction. The need of the moment is to move Pakistan towards a service based economy. Our IT Industry is a service industry that can provide a significant boost to our economic growth in next decade. Growth in the Pakistan’s IT sector has been visible even in challenging economic situations. The sector’s gross annual revenues are in excess of US$ 1 billion, and growth crossing 50% per annum, Pakistan’s IT business sector is clearly contributing significantly in the economy. Pakistan’s IT services exports hiked-up to 97.34% in the last five years. There are talks of increasing this number to 271% in the next five years, which will translate to US$ 3.77 billion.
Information and communications technology expenditures include computer hardware, software, services (consulting, computer and network systems integration, Web hosting, data processing services, and other services), communications services (voice and data communications services) and wired and wireless communications equipment. Unlike other industries the Information Technology industry does not require heavy machinery, elaborate infrastructure or sophisticated tools. It is mainly dependent on capable people. The Pakistani IT industry is beginning to come of age and is strongly emerging as a global IT destination. Over one hundred thousand people are officially employed in the IT sector of Pakistan and many more are informally employed. In spite of all the challenges, including the energy crisis, political instability and lack of promotion, the IT industry has shown great character in winning global recognition. There have been many success stories in the various IT domains, such as finance, healthcare, telecom and mobile applications. The industry is also playing a major role in poverty alleviation. Growth in IT services have paved ways for increasing foreign direct investment in Pakistan and this will have an impact on other industries in the country, as well.
TT: Please take us through the milestones of CIS and how did you contribute to its success.
AM: CIS offers diversified services including wireless broadband, fiber-optics, web development, Tele-health services, and specialized training. We have come a long way since our inception. We have already launched VPS servers and are offering managed as well as unmanaged VPS packages. Both national and foreign customers are availing our VPS facility. We aspire to further our SaaS and PaaS services; since we fully comprehend that cloud computing is the harbinger of future internet. CIS is currently offering IaaS infrastructure, VPN and SAN to corporate customers, and we are planning to add further hardware in our data center. So far, we have received a very positive response from customers.
I have recently joined the CIS team as the CEO and we have made substantial progress in the past few months in charting out the goals for the company. We have introduced new packages, streamlined workflows and hired a very competent workforce to complete our team. My focus has been on building a stronger portfolio for the company and bringing in new services to attract more clientele. I am moving CIS to work towards Infrastructure development and expansion, and planning to start internet services in far flung areas. There is still a lot of potential in the internet market. Right now our main focus is to target Banking and Energy sectors. My goal is to ensure that COMSATS Internet Services stays the best ISP in Pakistan in terms of quality of services and provides excellent support which will exceed customer expectations. During the last month, COMSATS Internet Services has been awarded with ISO 27001:2013 certification for its Data Centers. Furthermore, COMSATS Internet Services (CIS) became the first ISP in Pakistan to host RIPE Atlas Anchor sponsored by the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC).
TT: Please comment on the impact COMCLINIC has had on the society so far and how are you planning to grow this part of your business.
AM: COMSATS Internet Services launched its first Tele-Health clinic in April 2013, in Pakistan. CIS’s Tele-Health is a social service where patients from remote areas get free Tele-Consultations from doctors and specialists sitting at CIS headquarter using video conferencing and Tele-Medicine equipment. We not only have latest digital equipment but also have a qualified medical team for giving treatment to patients via video conferencing. We have our Tele-Health centers in all the four provinces of Pakistan. Up to 20840 consultations are being given by all Tele-Health clinics. Our goal till the year 2016 is to establish 19 centers under CIS Tele-Health Project. Up till now we have established 6 centers successfully, which are fully equipped and functional. We are now heading to bring specialist consultation at our centers, so that patients may consult with expert specialists.
TT: What distinguishes you from the competition, what makes CIS better than the rest of ISPs? How is this figure going to change in line with sector’s current boom?
AM: COMSATS Internet Services has more than 1000 corporate customers primarily including government organizations, private enterprises, foreign missions, and educational institutions in Pakistan. CIS is continually endeavoring to contribute to the broadband eco system. We have the state of the art datacenter facility, coupled with cloud computing facilities to host both content and applications locally. Moreover we are also offering services to ensure Information Security. We are offering managed and unmanaged VPS server packages around the globe. CIS is currently offering IaaS infrastructure, VPN and SAN to corporate customers and we are planning to add some more hardware in our data centers.
CIS has set up its own Tele-Health centers all over the country for the welfare of poor and needy people free of cost. These Tele-Health centers are also well equipped with the broadband facilities even in the remote areas. CIS is also providing technical trainings to professionals and students at very minimal cost such as certifications in ITIL, CCNA, MCSE, courses in programming, networking and administration, graphics designing, etc. We are continuously keeping up with the latest trends in the internet market and meeting the demands of our customers. Another aspect that sets CIS apart from our competitors is our highly regarded 24X7X365customer support and response time. We also have a feedback mechanism to get invaluable inputs from our customers as to what kind of services they would like from CIS. We definitely plan to also fortify this area.
TT: Are you planning to diversify your customer base?
AM: COMSATS Internet Services clientele ranges from government organizations to multinationals businesses to international donor agencies. We are positively working towards increasing our customer base by enhancing the user experience and bringing in new services. Some of our new business endeavors include infrastructure development, and targeting new sectors like banking and energy. We are also starting internet services in distant areas of Pakistan. With regards to new plans to further diversify CIS, we plan to have a network of nine (09) CIS Data Centers across the country which will offer cloud computing and a variety of data center services. With this venture, we hope to actively bring in more customers from Pakistan and around the world.
TT: Please comment on the impact the Institute had on developing skilled professionals.
AM: The IT sector’s key to success is building human capital. Pakistan’s target is to produce 50,000 highly qualified IT graduates annually until 2018 to meet our multi-billion dollar export target. In this endeavor COMSATS Internet Services is closely affiliated with the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) and contributing a lot in developing skilled professionals by offering number of professional trainings and certifications. CIS has trained over 2,000 networking professionals since its inception in 1996. CIS has been conducting training courses for students and professionals in Islamabad since 2006.
CIS now has training courses in CCNA, CCNP, Microsoft Office, Java, MCSE, MCITP, .Net Development, Web Development using PHP and My SQL, ITIL v3 Foundation, Graphics Designing with Adobe Photoshop, Linux Administration, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, Bandwidth Management, Information Technology Infrastructure Development, Search Engine Optimization and IT Accounts Management. These are short weekly or bi-weekly courses with flexible timings giving hands-on experience to students at Islamabad, Faisalabad and Peshawar benefitting numerous candidates who have gone on to successful professional careers in the IT sector and we hope to continue grow this program on popular demand.
TT: What was your motivation to join CIS and What legacy would you like to leave behind?
AM: I am honored to be a part of COMSATS Internet Services team. I have always appreciated CIS for being a pioneer and leader in the ISP market. CIS is a well established Internet Service provider with a mature and highly satisfied customer base including government departments, military establishments and multinational companies. My motivation in joining CIS was to see it explore new ventures and state of the art services by channeling the available talent and resources. My aim is to build an even stronger and broader portfolio for the company and grow our customer base. I spent my first few months at CIS familiarizing myself with all the different endeavors of the company, and now I am working closely with the multifaceted CIS team to come up with creative solutions that will appeal to a wider range of users. We have paced up our efforts in infrastructure development and expansion. We are setting up data centers across the country and are planning to start internet services in Gwadar. Our Tele-Health centers are going to offer more specialized consultation for our remote population. As for my legacy at CIS, I hope to lead the company in a direction where we offer the most modern and cost-effective internet and data management services without any compromise to quality. I would like to see COMSATS Internet Services continue to prosper and become the ISP market leader in Pakistan.