Belt Road Initiative (BRI) & Building a Network of S&T Parks Engr. Tahir Naeem Director (P&D and HRD) COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan Nov. 28, 2017 Hefei City, Anhui Province, China
China s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
Railway Network of CPEC
BRI Objectives and Opportunities Major Objectives: To Achieve Policy Co-ordination Across BRI Nations; To Build the Infrastructure to Enhance connectivity among BRI Nations; To Increase Trade and Investment Flows; To Promote Financial Integration; To Foster Better Relations Among the Peoples of the BRI Nations; Types of Opportunities: Infrastructure Development, Operation and Maintenance; Financial and Professional Services; Transportation and Logistics; Information and Communication Systems; Commerce, Manufacturing, and Supply Chains; Energy, Natural Resources, and Agriculture.
BRI Technology Parks Capitalize upon Geographical Proximity Agglomerations of firms, universities and other knowledge Org. are beneficial for the generation and utilization of knowledge; Co-location of knowledge producers and knowledge users increase the likelihood of cooperation for innovation among them; The geographical proximity facilitates knowledge flows/learning process; The codified knowledge is indigenized to suit the context through R&D inputs by knowledge-based enterprises like those located at technology parks. The transfer of tacit knowledge is facilitated by the geographical proximity between knowledge providers and knowledge users. The incubation centres and technology park act as knowledge capitals.
The Concept of Proximity is Not Alien to Economists / Economic Historians / Geographers Alfred Marshall s industrial districts Joseph Schumpeter s innovation clusters Eric Dahmen s development blocks Francois Perroux s development and growth poles in the 1950s, and, more recently, economic geographers and economists industrial and hightechnology agglomerations and new economic geography
Benefits of BRI Strengthens connections across countries; Facilitates freer movement of goods and talent; Facilitates learning from cross-cultural management practices; Access to expanded markets pushing for increase in productivity and competitiveness; Improved fair competition and market efficiency; Improved Returns on Capital; Promotion of South South & North-South Cooperation; Opportunities of improved economic independence
Pakistan s Vision 2025 and Need for Technological Development Pakistan s Vision 2025 aims to make Pakistan the next Asian tiger in coming 8 years through achieving Seven Pillars for Development : 1. Sustained Indigenous Inclusive Growth; 2. Energy, Food & Water Security; 3. Democratic Governance Institutional Reform and Modernization of Public Sector; 4. Human and Social Capital; 5. Private Sector Led Growth; 6. Developing a Competitive Knowledge Economy Through Value Addition; 7. Modernize Infrastructure and Strengthen Regional Connectivity.
Role of Technology Parks in Pakistan s Vision 2025 Pakistan s Vision 2025 plans to establish Technology Parks to provide a platform for Govt. Academia & Private Sector collaboration to foster, capitalize on and intensify R&D in order to increase economy s competitiveness in a regional/global context,. It acts as a point of convergence for S&T and innovation policies in the pursuit of developing a knowledge economy (Ref. pp 81, Vision 2025, Government of Pakistan).
Technology Parks and BRI The infrastructure built under BRI will work as Main Artery for Knowledge/Technology Transfer from and to the cities attached to it. The Technology Parks being/to be built along the BRI Routes will work as Knowledge and Technology Feeding Institutions and will ultimately change these trade routes into Knowledge Highways. The Universities and R&D Institutions attached to the Technology Park will find BRI (through these Technology Parks) as an excellent medium to pitch their knowledge ideas/products to a very wider number of well connected and easily accessible league of around 70 nations; These efforts will help build collaborative linkages and intellectual connectivity which symbolise the spirit of global cooperation;
Establishment of Technology Parks in Pakistan HEC Vision 2025 During Yr. 2017-2020, HEC s plans to: Establish Five (5) Industrial & Technology Parks One in each Province Establish ORICs at 130 Universities; Increase R & D funding for universities; Establish 100 new business & technology centres; Increased Int l collaboration with China, Korea, EU and Turkey for research programmes in microelectronics, aerospace, materials, ICTs, auto mobile industry, etc.
Initiatives in Higher Education Sector under CPEC* 1. Establishment of 2 CPEC Universities (Gawadar & Zhob) 2. Establishment of CPEC Consortium of Business Schools (10 Chinese + 9 Pakistani Universities); 3. Establishment of CPEC University Alliance; 4. Establishment of CPEC Integrated Study Center at Punjab University, Lahore; 5. Establishment of Centre for Integrated Research, Technology and Complete Solutions at University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 6. Establishment of Technical Training Institutes on the Route of CPEC; 7. Establishment of China Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences (with cooperation of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)). * China Pakistan Economic Corridor
Existing Science and Technology Parks in Pakistan (Functional / Planned) Pakistan has established a few and is establishing a good number of STP/IT Parks in different parts of the country: 1. Arfa Software Technology Park, Lahore (Punjab I.T. Board, Govt. of Punjab - Functional) 2. Lahore Knowledge Park, Lahore (Higher Education Deptt. Govt. of Punjab in Planning Phase) 3. NUST S&T Technology Park, Islamabad (NUST, Higher Education Commission in Planning Phase)) 4. CIIT Technology Park, Islamabad (CIIT, Ministry of S&T in Planning Phase)) 5. IT Park, Islamabad (Ministry of IT in Planning Phase) 6. CPEC IT Park, Peshawar (Govt. of KP in Planning Phase) 7. Sindh IT Industrial Park, Sindh (Govt. of Sindh in Planning Phase). 8. Incubation Centre and Software Technology Park, Peshawar ( KP IT Board and PTCL Pakistan)
Existing I.T. / Software Technology Parks in Pakistan Pakistan has established 14 I.T Parks under different initiatives of Pakistan Software Export Board: 1. Aiwan e Iqbal Software Technology Park, 2. Shaheen Complex Software Technology Park, 3. Anjuman Himayat e Islam Software Technology Park, 4. Netsol IT Village, 5. JGC Descon Software Technology Park, 6. Imran House Software Technology Park, 7. TRG Complex Software Technology Park, 8. Systems Software Technology Park, 9. Awami Markaz Software Technology Park, 10. Evacuee Trust Complex Software Technology Park, 11. KSL Software Technology Park, 12. Rose Center Software Technology Park, 13. Meridian Software Technology Park, 14. Tariq Center.
Special Economic Zones in Pakistan (Functional / Planning) Pakistan is planning to establish 46 Special Economic Zones alongside the CPEC Route; 9 have already been Prioritized during the 6 th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) Meeting held in Dec. 2016;
Profile of Technology Park at the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad
CIIT Technology Park Functional Components Businesses: MNCs, Domestic Cos, and Startups in Various Combinations; Knowledge Provider: University Research and Education Infrastructure, Applied Research Laboratories, Facilities usually provided by public entities; Industry Support Services: Business Incubators and Entrepreneur Development Areas Usually Managed by Private Operators; Financial Support Services: Venture Capital, Regional Development Agencies or Banks. Business Model Innovation Lots: to individuals, entrepreneurs, scientists, innovators and start-up companies at pre-production stage. Incubator Lots: to individuals and companies expanding from the experimental and preproduction stage through to market testing and production. Enterprise Lots: to entitles or R&D units of large local and multi-national enterprise emerging from the innovation & incubator stages.
CIIT Technology Park Prospective Tanents Start-up Businesses / Small Cos mainly Knowledge Based Ventures; Start-up Cos. R&D Based Products; Technology Based Cos.; Small - Medium Sized Cos.; Multinational Cos. and Large Cos.; Service Cos. (training, marketing, networking, public relations, community services); and Hospitality, Recreational and shopping entities. Focus Areas ICTs; Electrical & Electronics Engg; IoTs; and More disciplines would be added in the subsequent phases of its development. Phased Development CIIT Technology Park to be Completed in 3 Phases: Feasibility Study: (6 Months). Phase I: (Year 1-3); Phase II: (Year 4-6); Phase III: (Year 7-10).
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