The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication would establish more software technology parks across the country to enhance the growth of information technology industry in Pakistan.
“We want to establish software technology parks in small and big cities of the country, for which Pakistan Software Export Board, an attached department of the ministry, is working to establish software technology parks in Quetta, Gwadar, Faisalabad, Bannu, Swat, Mardan, Sukkur and Hyderabad,” a senior official of the IT ministry told APP.
He said the government had also decided to set up an information technology park near the Jinnah International Airport in the trade and business hub of Karachi at a cost of Rs 31 billion.
The IT park would house about 210 IT companies having 8,400 employees. Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) would act as the project executing agency and complete it in six years.
The IT park would span over an area of 106,449 square meters with eight floors above the ground and three basement floors, he said. To a question, the official said the ministry of IT had recently inaugurated IT Park in Islamabad, consisting of twelve-storey self-contained building on covered area of 66,893 square meters.
The IT Park would be developed with state-of-the-art infrastructure and allied facilities for IT companies with financial assistance of Exim Bank, Korea, he added. The project, he said, would be completed in 30 months with the total cost of Rs 13.72 billion.
The project for establishing IT Park in Islamabad was linked with the steps for fulfilling Digital Pakistan Vision which not only mitigate the shortage of infrastructure for IT sector rather also facilitate technology transfer through industry and academia linkage, support technology commercialization, links tertiary education and production, promote research and development and enhances IT exports and the industry competitiveness.
He said the Islamabad IT Project was expected to provide over 5,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities during construction phase and about 15,000 employment opportunities to IT experts, students and persons concerning industry after its completion.
The Islamabad IT Park initially provided office space to around 120 startups and small to medium enterprises and other ancillary facilities like testing laboratories, class rooms, industry academia linkage center, and auditorium etc.
He noted that presently total number of STPs in Pakistan was 15 including three in Islamabad, two in Rawalpindi, eight in Lahore and one each in Karachi and Gilgit.
Originally published at The nation