China has agreed to establish Pak-China International Science and Technology & Commercial and Logistic Park in Pakistan with an investment outlay of $1.5 billion under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). "The planned construction area would be in the range of 500 hectares and the project would be completed in 10 years spreading over 3 distinct phases of 3, 4 and 3 years respectively," said Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister for Science & Technology here Monday.
During this period, the project envisages employment generation of up to 150,000 persons, said the minister while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology which met with Osman Saifullah Khan in the chair here. The project has two parts: (i) establishment of Science and Technology City; and (ii) establishment of Commercial and Logistics Park.
Science and Technology City part has following components: science and technology park; science and technology tower/ Pakistan silicon valley and incubator center: Five Star hotels; and commercial apartments/malls etc and the project will be undertaken by the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) and the Xinjiang No 13 Division has given a "Go Ahead" to finalise the land identified in consultation with all stakeholders and to complete the other formalities.
The Xinjiang No 13 Division has requested the provision of a digital map of land and city of Islamabad so that the work on plan and feasibility study could be started. In a few days, they will provide the name and details of the component companies in the joint venture from Chinese side, ministry official added.
The Chinese side has also agreed to establish Commercial and Logistic Park which is proposed to be co-owned by National Logistics Cell (NLC) from the Pakistani side. The collaborative framework also aims at development of a Commodity & Logistics Center. This is to act as; a hub to cross dock over 140,000 FTCL's and reroute merchandise coming to Pakistan via Kashghar towards Gwadar and onwards to the MENA and EU markets. The Ministry proposed 70 projects worth Rs 3.15 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the next financial year (2016-17).
The quarterly system of releases does not suit R&D projects where lump-sum releases are required to purchase of equipment, open LCs, etc. Declaration of the political-will that Science and Technology capacity building would be a central pillar of national development strategy and the R&D expenditure would be enhanced to one percent of GDP by 2018 and 2 percent by 2023, the Ministry maintained.
For the fiscal year 2015-16, MoST made a total demand of Rs 3.51 billion, to cater to the need of developmental portfolio comprising of 88 projects (24 on-going, 21 newly approved, 43 unapproved). However, only Rs 1.51 billion were allocated for ongoing portfolio, leaving 21 approved projects in the lurch. This lower allocation not only retarded the implementation of ongoing projects but also left many critical projects without funding.
The projects that were approved in 2007 & planned for 24 months are still under implementation resulting in cost overruns, piling liabilities and litigation. MoST, from time to time has been raising this issue with M/o PD&R without any success. MoST made an additional demand of Rs 276 million in Mid Year Review. This low preference of the government to R&D sector is in direct conflict with the National Science & Technology Innovation Policy 2012, wherein, it is recommended to enhance R&D expenditure to 1% of GDP till 2015 and 2% by year 2020. Ironically, at present, R&D sector is allocated not more than 0.29% share of GDP.
In view of the foregoing, MoST has now proposed PSDP budget demand for next fiscal year 2016-17 to the tune of Rs 3150 million. MoST's policy focus for PSDP 2016-17 would be on ensuring that Pakistan acquires world-class expertise within 5-years.
The briefing showed the graph of R&D expenditure as %age of GDP in which Israel is a leading country having 4.21 percent and Pakistan at only 0.29 percent. The Ministry of Science and Technology demanded funds for ongoing projects to complete it in year 2016-17 and also emphasised on approved prioritised projects.
The chairman of the committee recommended that money should be released on time and availability of proper equipments be ensured for development. The committee also recommended that 32 projects must be completed within two years and funds must be circulated and released on time. Minister for Science and Technology was asked to provide and submit the proposals in next meeting with complete information. The committee approved the National University of Sciences and Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Comments
Comments are closed.