ISLAMABAD, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday that the Government of Pakistan recognizes the valuable contribution being made by the time-tested and all-weather friend China.

    The Prime Minister expressed these views in a meeting with a delegation of Huawei Technologies headed by its CEO, August Ye, which called on him prior to the signing of agreement between COMSATS Institute of IT and Huawei Technologies, a PM office statement said.

    The Prime Minister appreciated that Huawei Telecom is contributing significantly, towards the capacity building of Engineering Universities of Pakistan. Huawei has already established an IT center for research and development in the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore at a cost of over 8 million U.S. dollars.

    The Prime Minister was informed that now Huawei is rendering assistance to establish one more IT & Telecom center in COMSATS, Islamabad. The center will serve as the seat of advanced learning and skill development of telecommunication professionals. It will enable the students of regional universities to get well-equipped with latest techniques and technologies. In addition to these initiatives, Huawei technologies have also committed to deliver the IT & Telecom equipment worth 1 million dollars to improve the functionalities of Electronic Government Directorate.

    He said that synergy with Huawei Technologies would strengthen Pakistan's R&D capabilities and hoped that COMSATS Institute of Information Technology in collaboration with other regional universities would make best use of this new facility. He asked the Ministry of IT to make concerted efforts to promote ICT applications and to promote sustainable technological development in the country.

    CEO Huawei, August Ye assure the Prime Minster that Huawei being a reliable and trustful partner of the Government of Pakistan and its telecom companies would continue providing advance technology in future.

    He informed the Prime Minister that Huawei established its Pakistan office in 1998 and is now having technology cooperation with Pakistan organizations. Huawei Pakistan is the leading telecom E2E solution provider and has more than 1600 employees which are composed of over 1400 Pakistanis. Huawei is the only vendor which serves all the mainstream telecom operators of the country, he said.

    He further apprised the Prime Minister that Huawei a world leading telecom solutions provider has achieved a target of over 30 billion dollars in 2009 and ranks top three in world telecom industry.

    The meeting was attended by Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Petroleum, Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Privatization, Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan, Secretary IT and Secretary Privatization.

    Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Lou Zhaohui was also present during the meeting.