Pakistan to set up technology zones across the country
Imran Khan assures support to create new opportunities for young entrepreneurs
Islamabad: Pakistan will set up special technology zones across the country to create new jobs and opportunities for the bulging youth population.
Presiding a meeting on the establishment of technology zones, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the top priority for his government is to support youth by harnessing the power of technology and creating an enabling environment for strong partnership among educational institutions, industrial sector and government.
In the meeting, attended by relevant ministers from all provinces and regions including Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK, the premier directed officials to provide all facilities available in developed countries to the investors, entrepreneurs, and business community in the new science and technology zones in Pakistan.
Pakistan government established Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) in January this year to boost the IT sector and create more jobs in the world’s fifth most populous country.
“STZA is building an integrated technology roadmap to drive innovation and boost economy by leveraging technology and empowering millions in Pakistan” Amer Hashmi, the chairman of STZA, told Gulf News. “This is Pakistan’s opportunity to leapfrog to a new era of innovation” and create a “future brimming with opportunities for young people.”
The special technology zones to be developed by STZA across Pakistan will “provide special incentives to attract investors, builders, and technology companies to partner with the government” and also provide one-window facilitation to local and international companies, Hashmi said.
During the meeting presided by PM Khan, Hashmi explained that the aim of the new tech zones was to encourage technology transfer, foreign investment, human capital development, high tech research and development, job creation, and boost exports.
Recently, a Pakistan-based startup Airlift raised $85 million in Series B financing - the largest in Pakistan’s startup history. With this funding, the online shopping delivery firm added 5 per cent to Pakistan’s FDI in the fiscal year 2021, Airlift Express claimed. Welcoming the investment, PM Khan said that “Pakistan has huge potential” and the country is open for business, promising that his government was “fully committed” to create new opportunities for young entrepreneurs.