STAFF REPORT IBD: The Ministry of Science and Technology has planned to set up technology parks in all four provinces besides Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the federal capital.
These technology parks will be affiliated with relevant universities and will focus on multi-disciplinary research, accessible to all researchers, an official of the Ministry of Science and Technology told this scribe.
He said that the ministry is taking necessary steps to establish these parks in accordance with the National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2012.
The official, who close to this development, also said that the government has allocated an amount of Rs 2.172 billion from the developmental budget 2013-14 for various schemes of Ministry of Science and Technology. During the ongoing fiscal year, the government is determined to establish Science and Technology Parks with the technical assistance of Iranian institutes.
The government is taking a number of initiatives to promote and encourage the science and technology culture in the country as it desperate needs it trigger the national development process.
Accreditation of more Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) labs for export and import certification will also be established. PCSIRis aiming to enhance development of indigenous technologies and processes and skilled manpower to help local industrial sector to increase their productivity with priority areas.