Land proposed for technology park in Faisalabad

Meant to showcase innovation and inventions for industrial needs

FAISALABAD: Twelve acres have been proposed to be allocated for a technology park in M3 Industrial Estate in Faisalabad to showcase new inventions and technologies, said an official, adding that it would meet needs of the industrial sector.

The park is to be developed by the National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetics Engineering (NIBGE) and other research institutes for the commercialisation and establishment of high-tech industries.

Speaking at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), NIBGE Director Dr Shahid Mansoor said the mandate of research institutions is to innovate and develop new technologies in accordance with needs of the industrial sector, but the commercialisation depends on the private sector.

He said despite concerted efforts, Pakistan has failed to bridge the missing linkage and hence, the industrial sector is left with obsolete and redundant technologies.

Mansoor underlined the need for a major industrial breakthrough and said that almost all developed countries have made progress by gradually switching to high-tech industries. The US, Europe, Japan and even Bangladesh have established technology parks to showcase technologies developed by their scientists, which were adopted by their private sectors for commercialisation in the later phase.



He mentioned his previous visit to FCCI and said the issue of treating the industrial effluent was discussed in that meeting.

The NIBGE director claimed that the National Engineering Institute has helped in earning direct benefits of more than billions, while NIAB (National Institute of Agriculture and Biology) has also helped reap similar advantages.

He said NIBGE will offer investors to personally witness scientific technological innovations and adopt them in accordance with their own entrepreneurial skills and market needs.

Mansoor further said that the livestock and poultry is yet another major sector, which could be developed to enhance exports.

Mansoor said NIBGE can also provide trained manpower in the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering as 150 PhD scholars are enrolled in this institute.

Also speaking on the occasion, FCCI President Shabbir Hussain Chawla said that scientists always ignore the commercial aspect of their research projects. He mentioned an agriculture project, which was adopted by a local investor but failed to yield the require result, and said it was a major setback, which shook the confidence of FCCI members as the concerned scientists admitted that the result of the experiment were laboratory based, while its commercial aspect was totally ignored.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2018.

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