NUST, Tus-Holdings to establish National Science and Tech Park
ISLAMABAD:28 June: The National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) and the Chinese Company Tus-Holdings on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a National Science and Technology Park (NSTP) at NUST.
The MoU was signed by Tus-Holdings Company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jiwu Wang and NUST Rector Engineer Muhammad Asghar. Under this MoU, both sides shall consider to set up a joint venture company for the establishment of NSTP at Islamabad.
The MoU signing ceremony was attended by Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong, Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Prof Mukhtar Ahmed, Ministry of Science and Technology Secretary Kamran Ali Qureshi and other senior government officials. From the Chinese side, Herbert Chen, Xiang Chen and other notable members of Tus-Holdings were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Iqbal highlighted the significance of the MoU in the context of expanding economic cooperation between Pakistan and China. It would help further the objectives of Pak-China Economic Corridor and Vision 2025, he added.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Sun Weidong congratulated the NUST for taking the initiative of establishing the first-ever science and technology park in Pakistan, which would strengthen the existing friendly ties between the two countries.
The MoU shall enable Tus-Holdings to transfer its experience of consolidated innovation space formation to the creation of NSTP, suitably modified to suit the demands and realities of innovation in Pakistan. The agreement with Tus-Holdings is the latest in the series of cooperative initiatives that NUST has developed since 2011 with different Chinese universities, research institutes and policy centres.
The Global Think Tank Network has already been running an active knowledge partnership with Tsinghua and Peking Universities as part of its China Node, having provided critical intellectual and analytical underpinnings for creating a sustainable and multidimensional cooperation with China, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The NSTP will help towards the fulfilment of national science and development goals. In this regard, the broad space for cooperation provided by various agreements between China and Pakistan for scientific and technical cooperation will be utilised by the parties to the agreement.
NSTP partakes of the spirit of vision 2025 and is aligned with its cardinal pillars. It also enjoys considerable complementarities with the developmental thrust of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). NSTP in particular, and science and technolog parkts (STPs) in general, should be seen as related initiatives for undertaking correct and comprehensive development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), which form an integral part of the CPEC, as both STPs and SEZs form important components of the technology-based growth and development. The partnership between the NUST and the TusPark will pave the way for the incorporation of the NSTP as a flagship programme for science and technology, innovation and higher education components of the CPEC.
The NSTP is NUST’s capstone programme for the development of Pakistan’s first university-based STP. It was conceived as a means to harness the intellectual prowess of NUST’s faculty and students, exploit their innovative research potential and entrepreneurial spirit to create a dynamic Knowledge Ecosystem. The NSTP concept is in line with the proven models of technology clusters built around eminent universities like Stanford University in the USA, Tsinghua University in China and the South Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).Daily Times.
