Chinese to allocate 33 acres for IT zone

Aftab Ahmed

A Chinese company has approached the government to allocate 33 acres of land to develop an Information Technology (IT) Park in the Industrial Zone of Islamabad under the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Sources told Newztodays.com that a Chinese company has approached the ministry of IT to develop an IT industrial zone near Chak Shehzad on a piece of 33 acres of land.

The cabinet committee on China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) directed the board of investment to focus on the Islamabad IT zone and take it on its own if implementing agency was so far unable to achieve progress on this zone.

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Pakistan and China have entered the second phase of industrialization under CPEC. Under this plan, special economic zones would be set up in Pakistan. After facing a decline in exports during PML-N, the present government is focusing on developing the IT zone in Islamabad to attract investment in IT exports.

Pakistan has also offered Chinese telecom giant–Huawei--to set up a manufacturing plant in Pakistan. The government is currently working on a policy to give incentives to mobile manufacturers to set up plants in Pakistan. During a recent visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China, the Huawei chief had also expressed interest to expand operations in Pakistan.

In order to implement the strategy, the cabinet had also approved the ICT talent development program between Huawei Technology Pakistan and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) aimed at boosting IT-related exports.

According to data compiled by the State Bank of Pakistan, the export of IT and related services jumped up to $1.067 billion in the financial year 2017-18 against $939 million in 2016-17 with a growth of 13%. The exports stood at the US $ 540 million during ring first two quarters of the current fiscal year 2018-2019. The exports increased by the US $ 20 million compared to the corresponding period last year.

Pakistan Software Exports Board (PSEB) has also set a target of over US$ 6 billion by 2020 and the US $ 10 billion by 2025. In this regard, the IT zone would help to attract investment to achieve the set targets, officials added.

The present government is also focusing on digitization and a task force on IT had also been set up. This task force is also working on formulating a model to attract investment in the IT sector.

The targets of IT exports are ambitious but they are achievable, officials said adding that 70 percent of the population is below the age of 30 and therefore, this sector would help to provide jobs in the country.