NUST set to become high tech SEZ

Expression of interest will soon be invited from interested partners

ISLAMABAD:

The National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) has been given the status of a ‘high tech special economic zone’ by Prime Minister Imran Khan which will help give a tremendous impetus to the Pakistani economy.

In a statement on Thursday, the varsity said that the status had been approved during the sixth meeting of the Board of Approvals, which had been chaired by the prime minister the other day.

Subsequently, NUST has become the only high-tech special economic zone (SEZ) amongst the 20 SEZs in the country (the remaining being industrial zones). It also makes NUST the only higher education institution in the country to obtain this status.

NUST Rector Lt Gen (retired) Naweed Zaman said that this exclusive status will augur well for the cause of science, technology and innovation in the country.

SEZs provide several economic incentives that are a preferred component for thriving research and innovation ecosystems across the world, he said, adding that free trade zones, export processing zones, special technology and hi-tech zones, etc., are some of the economic substructures which have been designed to deliver tax and import stimulants and enhance the germination and development of disruptive technologies and hi-tech entities.

Zaman said that as part of the transformation, their pilot National Science and Technology Park (NSTP) - which had been inaugurated by PM Imran in Dec 2019 - will be converted into a full-fledged STP with a capacity to host 250 industry, research and development partners. NUST, he said, is all set to invite Expressions of Interest (EoI) from prospective partners for the full-scale multi-tower-based NSTP project to be launched soon.

The NUST rector hoped that the status will not only catalyse the transformation of NSTP into a national and regional economic hub but also pave the way for similar endeavours elsewhere in the country to improve our Global Innovation Index and catapult the country into a league of leading knowledge economies of the region and the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2020.