Pakistan’s first science park en route to formal inauguration

National Science and Technology Park (NSTP), Pakistan’s first science park, is all set to be inaugurated after beginning operations in November 2019.

A multi sector park focusing on AgriTech, the auto, EduTech, Energy, FinTech, HealthTech, SmartTech and DefTech, NSTP has already opened its doors to international and national resident companies and begun its mission of fostering a local, national and regional innovation system. 

Located in the capital city of Islamabad, the park has already achieved 65% occupancy, with 2 big anchor corporations 10 high tech SMEs, and 35 startups, and includes companies from New Zealand, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE and the US among its tenants. Arrangements to offer 10-year tax exemption for residents through Pakistan’s Board of Investments are almost complete.

As a fully integrated science and technology park, NSTP has also launched the Innovate Pakistan programme to drive growth and create economic activity in the country and region at large. Innovate Pakistan is a platform designed to synergise researchers, creators, investors, implementers and end users of technologies to discover, create, collaborate and break new ground, while encouraging a culture of entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

Other initiatives at NSTP include the Hatch8 pre-incubation programme, the Cube8 incubator and the Excelerate accelerator, which are offered under a pool of international and national mentors, as well as an angel investment network and a Venture Capital fund which are due to launch soon.

To support the internationalisation efforts of its resident companies, NSTP continues to forge collaboration with other STPs around the world. During November, it joined the iAccelerate Innovation Network, an incubator and accelerator run by the University of  Wollongong, Australia, and in October, signed an MoU with the Beijing International Business Incubator (IBI), Zhongguancun Science Park.

NSTP welcomes STPs, investors or companies which are interested in expanding to the Pakistani market and establishing a base at NSTP – to find out more, please visit https://nstp.pk/.