40 software technology parks in the works under public-private partnerships

The Ministry of Information Technology on Sunday announced while quoting the Minister of IT, Syed Amin Ul Haq, that work is under progress to establish a network of software technology parks across the country under which some 40 such parks will be established all over the country, including Swat, Bannu, Quetta, Faisalabad, Karachi and Sukkur.

The ministry also added that the parks functional in Gilgit and Hyderabad are already generating “millions of dollars” within a few months of their establishment. Meanwhile, plans are underway to establish a further 25 software technology parks in smaller areas. It was also revealed that work would soon begin for IT parks in Karachi and Islamabad with Rs. 44 billion.

Earlier, Fazal software technology park was established under the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), in January, with 10 IT companies occupying some 40,000 square feet of space. The development of software technology parks is part of the government’s policy to introduce “ease of doing business” measures to boost the IT industry and its exports further. However, the recently proposed withdrawal of tax exemptions, and its impact on the IT industry, risks derailing the impressive progress made by the sector so far.

Read More: Software technology parks to be established in 11 districts of KP.