ISLAMABAD, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- About 10,000 Pakistani students from 50 universities on Thursday started to participate in the third information and communications technology (ICT) skills competition being held by Chinese networking, telecommunications equipment, and services company Huawei in collaboration with Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Aiming at the promotion of ICT industry, technology certification and development of local ICT industry talent, the competition was formally launched at the commission's secretariat Thursday and was attended by students and faculty members from prominent colleges and universities of the country.

Saif Chi, Huawei Pakistan CEO, highlighted the essential need to have ICT competition. He said that the Huawei team will hold seminars and roadshows in universities to create awareness about the competition among the students.

The ICT Competition will help enhance the quality of future ICT professionals in Pakistan, along with increasing national ICT competitiveness, and supporting local students across Pakistan, he said.

During the 2nd ICT competition in 2017, Pakistani students did exceptionally well and secured second and third positions out of 23 participating teams.

Tariq Banuri, chairman of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission, said that the ICT program should be replicated by other organizations in order to encourage more and more students to involve in informative competitions.

The competition is part of Huawei's longstanding effort to have a positive impact on the community in Pakistan.

Huawei has also collaborated with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan to launch the Huawei Authorized Information and Network Academy (HAINA) program. This program provides opportunities to promote studies of advanced technologies.