Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque has laid the foundation stone of Information Technology Park Chak Shahzad, Islamabad.
Groundbreaking ceremony of Islamabad IT Park held here Wednesday. Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Mr. Suh Sangpyo was also present on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony, Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque said that it is very important news for the masses that Ministry of IT and Telecommunication is going to establish state-of-the-art IT Park at Chak Shahzad, Islamabad. IT Park Islamabad will consist of twelve storeys (10 storeys above and 2 storeys underground) self-contained building having covered areas of 66,893 square meters. The IT Park would be developed with state-of-the-art infrastructure and allied facilities for ICT companies with financial assistance of Exim Bank, Korea, he said. The total cost of the project is Rs. 13727.070 million.
Federal Minister Syed Amin Ul Haque said that this project for establishing IT Park in Islamabad is linked with the steps for fulfilling Digital Pakistan Vision which not only mitigate the shortage of infrastructure for IT sector but also facilitate technology transfer through industry academia linkage, support technology commercialization, links tertiary education and production, promote research and development and enhances IT exports and industry competitiveness.
He said that the Islamabad IT Project is expected to provide over five thousand direct and indirect employment opportunities during construction phase and about 15000 employment opportunities to IT experts, students and persons concerning industry after its completion.
He said that similar type of IT Park will be established in Karachi soon.
The Federal Minister for IT said that Islamabad IT Park initially provides 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 software technology parks (STPs) in Pakistan is 15 including 3 in Islamabad, 2 in Rawalpindi, Lahore 8 and 1 each in Karachi and Gilgit.
He said that we want to establish software technology parks in small and big cities of the country, adding that Ministry of IT’s attached department Pakistan Software Export Board is working to establish software technology parks in Quetta, Gwadar, Faisalabad, Bannu, Swat, Mardan, Sukkur and Hyderabad.
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of Republic of Korea Mr. Suh Sangpyo said that IT Park constructions are key projects of the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). In year 2019, a Framework agreement was signed with Pakistan to prove 500 million dollars of EDCF loans that give financial space for the construction of infrastructure in Pakistan. Today we witness together a tangible outcome of EDCF projects, he added.
He said that it is very positive that revolutionary steps are being taken in IT and Telecommunication sector of Pakistan and Islamabad IT Park will prove an important milestone for Ministry of IT and Pakistani skilled persons.
Secretary IT Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, officers of Ministry of IT & Telecom, MOITT attached departments heads and important personalities from IT industry were present on the occasion.
