ISLAMABAD: More than 600 IT companies, 55,000 participants, and around a hundred foreign delegates are attending an ongoing 24th edition of the Information Technology Commerce Network (ITCN) Asia Conference in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, Pakistani state media reported on Friday, citing officials.

The main sessions at the three-day tech event include the Artificial Intelligence Summit, Global Security Symposium, Gaming and Scholars Roundtable, Investor Summit, Freelancer Summit, Made in Pakistan Roundtable Conference.

State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja said the objective of the event was to highlight the expertise and products of Pakistan’s IT sector at the international level.

“Sixty eight percent of Pakistan’s population consists of young people and IT is a field that has a lot of opportunities available for them,” she told Radio Pakistan broadcaster. “The government’s vision is to bring as much skill training as possible for the youth in the IT sector.”

Khawaja said the government would provide cheap loans to the IT sector so that freelancers could thrive.

“The government has started the Industry Academia Bridge Program under which IT students in universities can collaborate with the private sector to get practical training while studying and secure their jobs,” she added.

Speaking on the opening day of the event at Lahore’s Expo Center on Friday, Khawaja said it was an honor for Pakistan to be a founding partner of the Digital Cooperation Organization, a global multilateral body launched in November 2020 to help enable digital prosperity for all, and a testimony to the country’s readiness to be one of the leading stakeholders in the global IT ecosystem.

“Pakistan’s digital progress and its position as a global stakeholder is underscored by its vibrant youth as Pakistan produces 10,000 IT graduates every year,” she said.

“Together we will make Pakistan an IT hub as IT is the key toward growth of all sectors.”

A delegation of international investors belonging to 12 different countries is participating in the event that is expected to attract around $500 million investment, according to Pakistani state media.

Renowned international and national technology companies, including Microsoft, Inbox, Red Hat, TP-Link, Lenovo, HP, NetSol, Abacus and Dell, are participating in the three-day exhibition.

The event is being jointly supported by the Pakistani Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), Pakistan Software Export Board and Pakistan Software Houses Association.

LONDON: The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children’s cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.

Nigeria’s regulator recalled a batch of Benylin paediatric syrup last Wednesday, having found a high level of diethylene glycol in the product during routine testing.

The contaminant, alongside another closely related toxin, ethylene glycol, has been linked to the deaths of more than 300 children in Cameroon, Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan since 2022, though there is no evidence that these incidents are linked with the latest recalls.

The UN health body said it puts out global medical product alerts to “encourage diligence” by national authorities and was likely to do so in this instance, “subject to confirmation of certain details from parties.”

The recalled batch of Benylin syrup was made by J&J in South Africa in May 2021, although Kenvue now owns the brand after a spin-off from J&J last year.

J&J has referred requests for comment to Kenvue. In an emailed statement on Friday, Kenvue said it had carried out tests on the batch recalled by Nigeria and had not detected either diethylene or ethylene glycol.

“We continue to work closely with health authorities and the WHO and are engaging with NAFDAC to understand their test results, including verifying the authenticity of the sampled product, the testing methodology used, and results reported by the agency,” the statement added.

Since Nigeria’s recall, five other African countries have also pulled the product from shelves — Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa, where the drug was made.

South Africa’s regulator has also recalled another batch of the syrup, which is used to treat coughs, hay fever and other allergic reactions in children.

Diethylene glycol is toxic to humans when consumed and can result in acute kidney failure, although there have been no reports of harm in the latest incident.

RAW MATERIALS

In the 2022 cases, the contamination in the syrups came from the raw materials used by manufacturers in India and Indonesia.

The WHO said it was collaborating with both the manufacturer and regulatory authority in South Africa to investigate the Benylin paediatric syrup, and had information on the source of the ingredients used. Kenvue has previously said it tested its ingredients before manufacture.

The agency said the possibility that the syrup was counterfeit was also “under consideration as part of investigations.”

Earlier this week the WHO sent out a separate alert on five batches of contaminated cough syrup ingredients found in Pakistan that appeared to have been falsely labelled as Dow Chemical products.

It was the first alert the WHO has sent on excipients — elements of a medicine other than the active pharmaceutical ingredient — rather than finished products, the agency confirmed on Friday.

The batches of propylene glycol were contaminated with ethylene glycol.

“It was critical for WHO to also alert manufacturers that may have been procuring this material to exercise more caution,” a WHO spokesperson said by email.

Propylene glycol is not an ingredient in Benylin paediatric syrup, a Kenvue spokesperson said on Friday.