Construction of Islamabad’s New IT Park to Begin Next Month

Construction of the main building of Information Technology (IT) Park in Islamabad will start next month, officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology have confirmed.

According to details, all necessary arrangements have been completed, and the tendering process is in the final stage. Capital Development Authority (CDA) has already approved the design of the building, and MoITT has already obtained approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

All work related to electricity connections, drain channels, and procurement has been completed. Boundary wall construction and land payment have already been done. All work is completed from the Pakistani side, and on the Korean side, contract awarding is in process, which will be completed in the next couple of weeks.

Note here that the groundbreaking of Islamabad IT Park was performed on 26 May 2021 by Minister of IT & Telecom (MoITT), Syed Amin Ul Haq, and Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, H.E Suh Sangpyo, at Chak Shahzad.

IT Park Islamabad will consist of twelve storeys (2 underground and 10 above) and will stretch over an area of 66,893 square meters. It will provide office space to over 120 startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and ancillary facilities like testing laboratories, classrooms, industry-academia linkage center, auditorium, etc.

The MoITT is developing IT Park Islamabad with financial assistance from Exim Bank Korea. The total cost of the project is $88.8 million, of which, $76.3 million will be provided by South Korea and $12.5 million will be covered by Pakistan.

The IT Park will not only mitigate the shortage of infrastructure for the IT sector but also facilitate technology transfer through academia-industry linkage, support technology, commercialization, promote research and development, and economic value addition.

It not only will bring federal direct investment in the IT sector but will also increase IT exports and IT industry competitiveness. It will create more than 5, 000 direct and indirect employment opportunities during the construction phase. It will create another 5,000 direct and indirect jobs after completion.

Note: Featured image is only for illustration purposes.