Shehbaz inaugurates IT Park to drive tech-led growth

Shehbaz inaugurates IT Park to drive tech-led growth

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif formally inaugurated the newly renamed Daanish IT Park (National Technology Park) on Saturday, hailing the country’s first national technology facility as a crucial milestone for Pakistan’s rapid economic progress and prosperity. Addressing the inaugural ceremony, the prime minister emphasised that the state-of-the-art facility brings incubation centres, innovation hubs, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), startups, and industry leaders together under one roof. He expressed strong optimism that the tech park would empower Pakistan’s youth and play a pivotal role in steering the nation toward becoming a developed country. He said that once the technology park becomes fully operational, similar facilities would be established across the country and in all provinces, helping industry, agriculture, mining and minerals, and other key sectors grow. The prime minister said the facility would host AI experts and act as a catalyst to promote different skills in the IT sector. He said the foundation of this project was laid down during 2017-18 but what happened after it was a part of history. He also commended the hard work and tireless efforts of the Minister of IT and her team and relevant authorities, which transformed a sick project into a sound and healthy project. He said that he had directed the ministry to conduct transparent bidding, inviting renowned IT companies in the country and abroad to make the facility fully functional and keep it growing under internationally recognised SOPs without any interference from the government. The prime minister said that Islamabad IT Park would now be called Daanish IT Park, highlighting the contributions made by Daanish schools in the education sector by providing quality education to talented students with poor backgrounds, and mentioned that due to their talents, those students had excelled in different fields. He added that Daanish University in Islamabad was also being established. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, federal cabinet members, parliamentarians, CEOs, experts and students. The prime minister said it is not about brick and mortar; it is not about a grand, wonderful building; it is about an ecosystem; it is about innovation, having incubation centres, over there, skill development, vocational training, and centres where industrialists and entrepreneurs will be sitting, in front of great IT experts and AI experts; all of them will be here, and this centre will act as a great catalyst to promote all these skills to all those who are ready to learn without wasting time. The prime minister appreciated the support of the Korean government and the ambassador, and shared that he had visited Korea for the first time back in 1985, where he visited the headquarters of Daewoo, a steel plant and had meetings with many other companies. He said that during his tenure as Punjab chief minister, they also brought Daewoo’s air-conditioned buses to Pakistan for the first time in the city of Lahore. The Korean ambassador said the Republic of Korea is committed to ensuring that no individual or country is left behind in the AI era, as they believed that AI could serve as a powerful tool to address their shared challenges such as crises, global health, and food security. Under this vision, the Korean government, including the MOFA, KOICA, and the Ministry of Science and IT, was actively working to expand developed cooperation with Pakistan in the IT sector, he added. Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja also spoke on the occasion. Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2026