Software Technology Park to be set up in Bannu in collaboration with PSEB and Govt of KPK

Software Technology Park to be set up in Bannu in collaboration with PSEB and Govt of KPK

PESHAWAR: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Pakistan Software Export Board, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board and the University of Science & Technology, Bannu for setting up the first ever software technology park in Bannu. PSEB Managing Director Osman Nasir, University of Science and Technology, Bannu Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khair Uz Zaman, and KP IT Board MD Dr Sahibzada Ali Mahmud signed the MoU, a news release Wednesday said. The signing ceremony was attended by Syed Amin Ul Haq, Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunication, Muhammad Atif Khan, KP Minister for Science, Technology & IT, Dr Sohail Rajput, Federal Secretary IT, and senior officials of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication. Speaking on the occasion, Syed Amin Ul Haq said that Pakistan’s IT industry had achieved significant expansion and exports growth. 

The present government, he said, was focusing on the development of IT industry in the secondary and tertiary cities to generate holistic economic growth beyond the country's major tech hubs. He emphasized upon the need for close liaison between the IT industry and public sector entities for ensuring holistic growth of Pakistan’s IT sector. KP Minister Atif Khan said the steps being taken by Federal Ministry of IT and Telecommunication for fulfilling the vision of 'Digital Pakistan' were appreciable. He said the KP government wanted to jointly work with the Federal Ministry of IT and Telecommunication for the information technology promotion. Secretary IT Dr Sohail Rajput said the MoU for establishment of a software technology park in Bannu was a major achievement as it covered multifaceted cooperation in terms of establishing a software technology park at the university campus, facilitating start-ups and freelancers as well as enhancing industry-academia linkages for holistic growth of IT industry in the region. 

PSEB MD Osman Nasir said seven software technology parks with a combined space of 153,949 sq. ft had been set up since January 2021. Work was well under way towards establishing software technology parks in universities such as the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) Karachi, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, and Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Sciences & Technology University (QUEST), Nawabshah. Currently, he said, there were 19 software technology parks across Pakistan with 1.2million sq. ft of space offering state of the art facilities to technology companies. - APP