The National Science and Technology Park hosted Ali Bahadur Qazi, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology, for a visit focused on the park’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Amer Sheikh, Director of the park, guided him through its work and highlighted its contribution to national development. The visit brought a senior official from the federal ministry responsible for science policy into direct contact with the startups and programs based at the park, giving him a firsthand view of how research and enterprise are being brought together on the university campus.
Dr. Sajid Saleem, Director of Quality Assurance at the National University of Sciences and Technology, accompanied the Additional Secretary during the visit. The program included a tour of the Hatch 8 incubation program and meetings with young startup founders. Those interactions offered insight into emerging ventures and their potential to address national challenges through technology and innovation. Hearing directly from founders gives policymakers a clearer sense of what early stage companies need to grow, from funding and facilities to regulatory support, and it allows the founders to explain the problems they are trying to solve in their own words.
Visits by senior government officials matter for the startup community because the ministry plays a central role in shaping science and technology policy and in supporting the institutions that carry out research. When officials see a working incubation program and speak with the people running new companies, they gain practical examples to draw on in later discussions about funding, infrastructure, and policy. For the park, the visit offered a chance to show how a university based technology hub can serve as a bridge between research and industry, and to make the case that such hubs deserve continued backing as part of the country’s plans for technological and economic growth.
The park said it remains committed to supporting innovators and building scalable ventures that advance Pakistan’s technological and economic growth. The announcement did not mention any specific decisions or follow up actions arising from the visit, so the effects of the meeting will depend on later conversations between the park, the university, and the ministry. For the founders who met the Additional Secretary, the visit was an opportunity to present their work to an official who can carry their experiences back to the national level. It also added to a steady run of visits by government, industry, and academic groups to the park, which continues to present itself as a center of innovation in Pakistan.
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