ISLAMABAD: The global technology industry is rapidly expanding with an approximate market size of US 5.3 trillion dollars and an R&D budget of US 2.2 trillion dollars while Pakistan’s export in information technology is clocking around $ 2 billion and R&D budgets are negligible, says Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA).
Having one of the largest youth populations in the world which has access to smartphones and the internet, Pakistan has all the available ingredients to go through technology and innovation-driven economic transformation, said STZA in a brief shared with media persons here on Wednesday.
Chairman Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) Amer Hashmi said work had been started to establish five technology zones in different cities including Islamabad, Lahore and Haripur to facilitate IT companies.
The chairman said the state land that was not in any use for the last many years had been given to the companies on lease to encourage the promotion of knowledge economy in the country.
The chairman said with the establishment of 60 parks in one year, the country could generate about $ 5 billion in revenue in two to three years.
Briefing media persons here, he said, the Special Technology Zones Authority came into existence in October 2021 under the Act of Parliament and was being operated under the Cabinet Division.
It was highlighted that the concept of combined efforts and cooperation for the promotion of research and development (R&D), between academia, government and the industry started from the 1950s, at Stanford Research Park, California, USA.
Later the concept was followed with the development of Tsukuba Science City (Japan), Zhongguancun Park, Beijing, China, Daedeok Technopolis, Daejeong, South Korea etc.
The success of this concept triggered countries across the globe to initiate special legislations and regimes to enable and protect the growth of knowledge and innovation ecosystem and follow the path of wealth creation through knowledge-driven solutions and services.
Currently, the United States has 115 clusters based on this concept, while China 169, the UK 63, India 23, Iran 16, Egypt three, Malaysia five and there was no such functioning tech zone in Pakistan.
Under the STZA Act, the technology companies operating in the tech zones are provided 10-year tax exemption, 10-year tax rebate for them, relaxed foreign exchange policy and other benefits.
The technology companies would be provided a one-window facility in these tech zones by the STZA, and the authority was vying for provincial tax exemptions too, for the tech zones in the respective provincial jurisdiction.
The STZA officials highlighted their achievements during the seven months, highlighting that Samsung had launched mobile phones in Pakistan and after the arrival of the mobiles, the country had saved millions of rupees.
Currently the five tech zones in the country including two in the federal capital – the Islamabad Technopolis and the New State Life Tower Islamabad, Lahore Knowledge Park, PAF-IAST University Haripur and the Pakistan Digital City Haripur.
The STZA has proposed additional tax exemptions for the companies operating in these Tech Zones in the upcoming budget.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022