KARACHI – Federal Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication(MOITT) Syed Amin Ul Haque laid foundation stone of Pakistan’s largestInformation Technology Park project in Karachi to make the city what hesays “a gateway for innovative future”.
The 11-storey project is expected to be complete in 2026 with a cost ofRs42 billion and it will create more than 20,000 jobs for IT professionals.
Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony, the minister heartily congratulatedthe people of Karachi, Sindh and the whole country on the launch of theproject. He said the Karachi IT Park will be a gateway for innovativefuture and strengthen economy.
He said MQM’s first priority whenever resources are available has been tolaunch projects of public interest, and the Karachi IT Park is a bigexample in this connection. Karachi IT Park is the largest IT project ofits kind in Pakistan, which will benefit not only the citizens of Karachi,but also the IT professionals and companies of Sindh and the rest ofPakistan, he added.
Syed Amin Ul Haque highlighted that the Project titled “Establishment of ITPark, Karachi” was approved by ECNEC in its meeting held on June 4, 2021 atcapital cost of PKR. 41.39 billion.
Saying most software technology/IT parks provide ample space for businessdevelopment, he said that governments all over the world often invest inthese technology parks to boost their regional and national economies.
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He said technology parks must comply with basic infrastructure requirementssuch as clean facilities and ample working space. However, tech parks arealso equipped with the latest technology and telecommunication facilitiesthat make it easy to establish and manage a business. The purpose of theseparks is to provide a place where innovative businesses could develop andprosper. The main objective of technology parks is to support the creationand development of knowledge-based enterprises.
The Technology park, Karachi is providing office space to approx. 225startups and Small to Medium enterprises and other ancillary facilitieslike testing laboratories, Class rooms, industry academia linkage center,and auditorium etc.
He said that for the first time in Pakistan, smartphone manufacturinglicenses were issued, under which 29 companies are now manufacturingsmartphones and digital devices in Pakistan. National Incubation Centerswere established in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta andrecently in Faisalabad and Hyderabad as well.
As a result of our initiatives, the volume of IT exports has reached $2.62billion an increase of 47%, while 30 software technology parks (STPs) wereestablished across the country under public-private partnership. With anincrease of 800%, the amount of investment for Pakistani startups hasreached $818 million in 4 years. Steps have been taken to provide ITtraining facilities of international standard to the fresh IT graduates.The Center of Excellence project for youth training in University ofKarachi is under consideration.
