Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally inaugurated the National Technology Park in Islamabad on Saturday, 10 October, and announced that the facility, previously known as Islamabad IT Park, will now be called Daanish IT Park. Described as the country’s first national technology facility, the park is designed to bring incubation centres, innovation hubs, small and medium enterprises, startups and industry leaders together in one place. The prime minister called the opening a milestone for Pakistan’s economic progress and said that once the park is fully operational, similar facilities will be set up across the country, including in every province, to help sectors such as industry, agriculture and mining grow. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, federal cabinet members, parliamentarians, chief executives, experts and students.
The prime minister said the park is meant to be far more than a building. In his view, its value lies in the ecosystem it creates, with incubation, skills development and vocational training running alongside spaces where industrialists and entrepreneurs can work close to technology and artificial intelligence experts. The park is expected to host AI specialists and to serve as a base for building skills in the information technology sector for anyone willing to learn. He noted that the project’s foundation was laid in 2017 and 2018, and credited the Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, and her team with turning a struggling project into a workable one.
On management, the prime minister directed the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication to hold a transparent bidding process and invite well known technology companies from Pakistan and abroad to run the park. He said the facility should operate under internationally recognised procedures and grow without interference from the government. The decision matters for the park’s success, because a technology park depends on its operator to attract tenants, maintain services and build links between companies, universities and investors. The choice of the new name reflects the contribution of Daanish Schools, which provide quality education to talented students from poor backgrounds, and the prime minister added that a Daanish University is also being established in Islamabad.
South Korea’s support was acknowledged at the ceremony. The Korean ambassador, Han Sungho, said his country is committed to making sure that no person or nation is left behind in the age of AI, and that its government agencies, including the Korea International Cooperation Agency, are working to expand cooperation with Pakistan in information technology. The ambassador said South Korea has provided more than 340 million dollars in development assistance to Pakistan over the past four decades. Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said the park will serve as a digital business and technology ecosystem, and pointed to small technology centres that have been set up in 65 districts across the country over the last two years through public-private arrangements. The next steps, including the selection of a management company and the first tenants, will decide how quickly the park moves from inauguration to full operation.
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