$50 Million Technology and IT Park for Islamabad Approved

ECNEC – Executive Committee of National Economic Council approved country’s first state of the art Information Technology Park in Islamabad, Today.

The Korean Exim Bank has agreed to finance the establishment of first Technology Park in Pakistan to promote IT industry in Pakistan with the cost of $50 million, announced Anusha Rahman Minister of Information Technology and Telecom, adding that Exim Bank will provide loan for IT Park.

Minister stated this while addressing a function after attending the ECNEC meeting. The minister said that work on the IT Parks in Lahore and Karachi would be started soon.

Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has leased about 45 acres of land in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad to build state of the art, IT Park.

“PSEB is mandated to facilitate Pakistani IT industry and increase exports of software and services from Pakistan. One of the major functions of PSEB is to set up and operate IT parks and provide conducive and enabling infrastructure for the development of IT industry.”, reported by ProPakistani

Pakistan Software Export Board conducted several surveys periodically since 2004 and the survey result indicates the absence of IT Parks a major concern of IT industry in the country.

IT Parks are not just to provide a place to IT Companies for their offices but they are also necessary for creating a platform for information exchange and linkage between academia, industry, and government itself.

They not only proved to be ideal research and development centers but also provide an enormous boost to the national economy.

Proposed site for Islamabad IT Park

Scope & Salient Features of Proposed IT Park

• Phase-1: Construction of buildings having approximately 1, 000, 00-1, 500,000 square feet of covered area on 15 acres of land
• About 120-150 IT companies would be hosted initially
• Infrastructure development and establishment cost Rs 10.7 billion
• Broadband connectivity, power backup, transportation, data centers etc
• Facility management, legal and financial services, business generation and entrepreneurship development skills, international technology linkages with large corporations

Facilities To be included in IT Park Islamabad

Common facilities such as research and development centers, application development laboratories, incubator facilities and entrepreneurship services, auditorium and virtual collaboration classrooms for brainstorming on technology trends, future possibilities, and networking.

When will it be officially signed?

A loan agreement between Exim Bank and Government of Pakistan for the project is expected to be signed soon.

Anusha Rehman sid that it is the vision of the government to launch state-of-the-art IT parks in Pakistan to change the dynamics of the IT industry of Pakistan. Pakistan has a lot of IT talent and potential but that potential has not been utilized fully on a global scale because of lack of proper infrastructure for the IT industry at present.

The minister mentioned that government’s focus is to provide an enabling environment through infrastructures such as IT parks to IT entrepreneurs and IT companies so that they can grow and nurture their business and products to their true potential both locally and globally.

She said that vision behind the IT parks is that they would act as a complete ecosystem with office space, incubators, accommodation for foreign visitors, gymnasium, lakes, biking trails, and not just raw office space.

An IT park should be a seat of learning and technology where there is an exchange of knowledge and information between professionals and students, said the Minister.

Who is Involved in IT Park Islamabad

Earlier the concept of IT Park was approved by the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Information Technology was in the process of preparing the PC-II in consultation with the World Bank. The World Bank had expressed its desire to invest up to $45 million in the project, however, due to some hindrances, the government later preferred to engage Exim Korean Bank.