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NSTP becomes Pakistan’s first Hi-Tech Special Economic Zone

Date:
28 October 2020
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Pakistan PM Imran Khan chairing meeting regarding Hi-Tech Special Economic Zone
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Since its launch, NSTP’s mission has been promoting research and innovation by facilitating collaboration amongst its quadruple helix stakeholders. But everything changed when COVID-19 struck just 4 months after the park’s launch.

Tapping into global knowledge through its network of international associations and partners helped the new park to come up with collaborative solutions, which ensured that NSTP not only overcame challenges but was able to register number of outstanding achievements.

For the first time in history of Pakistan, NSTP was able to secure Hi-tech Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status on October 7, 2020. This landmark accomplishment will benefit national and international hi-tech businesses as well as SMEs, accelerating the country’s transition into a thriving knowledge economy. It will incentivize the establishment of high tech SMEs and innovation centres and new industries by giving tax holiday and tax free operations.

NSTP will provide a number of economic incentives that are a crucial element of a thriving research and innovation ecosystem. Tenant companies will get exemption on custom duties on the import of machinery, helping them lower procurement costs, as well as exemption from income tax for a period of up to 10 years. These incentives allow time for tenant companies to become stable and increase opportunities for their growth in the park, which is now a fully operational science park with a hosting capacity of 250 industry and R&D partners.

Despite the challenges of working under a global pandemic, the science park has also developed the NSTP-NUST interaction framework with the National University of Science and Technology, to facilitate internship programmes, jobs and faculty placements, industrial projects, sponsored research projects and the utilisation of labs and research centres.

NSTP’s portal “The Bridge” was also launched for online enablement and facilitation of academia-industry linkages during the COVID period. The park has been able to create 840+ knowledge workers, generate 85+ IPs and conduct 40+ training sessions, workshops and webinars in a span of less than one year; an angel and venture capital (VC) funding network is being developed, Expression of Interest (EOI) for which has already been floated.

NSTP aims to be the torchbearer for science parks in Pakistan, and develop a model for others to emulate. 

Find out more about NSTP at https://nstp.pk/.

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