ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday renamed Islamabad’s National Technology Park as the Danish IT Park, saying the project will be a milestone in equipping young Pakistanis with skills in artificial intelligence (AI) and information technology and promoting innovation and economic development.
Speaking at the park’s inauguration, the prime minister said the facility would provide opportunities for startups, incubators, small and medium-sized enterprises, industries and young entrepreneurs.
He said the project would help millions of young men and women acquire skills and become economically empowered, with expertise in emerging technologies helping Pakistan move towards the ranks of developed nations.
He expressed confidence that once the park became fully operational, similar facilities would be established across the country’s four provinces, eventually extending the initiative to thousands of IT parks.
READ ALSO: Islamabad IT Park to help achieve $25bn IT export goal: PM
He said AI and information technology could support modernisation across agriculture, industry, manufacturing, mining and other sectors, enabling Pakistan to benefit from advances in science and technology.
The prime minister said the IT park project had been launched in 2017-18 but had subsequently faced delays.
He described the inauguration as an occasion to acknowledge the contributions of everyone involved in completing the project rather than engage in political point-scoring. He praised the efforts of the relevant government ministers, particularly the finance and IT ministers, and the IT ministry’s team.
He said the project had initially been considered unviable but had been transformed into a sustainable undertaking through teamwork and sustained efforts.
He said he had personally chaired several meetings on the project and visited the site more than once, stressing that he wanted young people to benefit from the facility as soon as possible.
He emphasised that the park’s value extended beyond its physical infrastructure, saying its principal purpose was to create an ecosystem for innovation, skills development, technical training, business incubation and collaboration with AI and IT specialists.
The prime minister said he had directed the relevant ministry to invite domestic and international companies working in IT and AI to submit proposals for operating the facility through a transparent process.
The company offering the best services on the most suitable terms would be selected to manage the building, he added. Under the proposed arrangement, the government would not be involved in day-to-day operations, which would instead be managed by specialists and educators in line with internationally recognised practices.
PM Sharif said Danish IT Park would be the country’s first facility of its kind under a vision to extend the initiative beyond the provinces to Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Drawing a parallel with the Danish Schools programme, he said the initiative was intended to provide opportunities to talented children from extremely poor backgrounds. Danish schools were being established not only in Punjab but also in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He said thousands of students educated at Danish schools had gone on to become doctors, engineers, scientists and teachers, while others were pursuing higher education at international universities or serving patients in Pakistani hospitals.
The prime minister added that work on Danish University was also progressing rapidly, saying the renaming of the IT Park reflected the same vision of expanding access to education, technical skills and opportunities.
He also acknowledged South Korea’s contribution to the project and thanked its president for their support, pledging that Pakistan would maintain the facility and develop it into a successful technology hub.
Recalling his longstanding ties with South Korea, PM Sharif said he had first visited the country in 1985, when he toured Daewoo’s headquarters and a steel plant and met representatives of several companies. He also recalled introducing Daewoo’s air-conditioned buses in Lahore during his first tenure as Punjab chief minister and visiting South Korea again in 1997-98.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, IT Minister Shaza Fatima, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, other cabinet members, parliamentarians, South Korea’s ambassador, leading IT company executives and technology experts attended the ceremony.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026