June 26, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1427

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LAHORE, June 25: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Sunday announced that the foundation stone of the Rs1.50 billion Software Information Technology Park would be laid on July 3, completing the world standard project within a year.

He was speaking after Punjab Information Technology Board chairman Rizwan Amin Sheikh and Cooperatives registrar Zulqernain Amer signed a joint venture agreement regarding the construction of the park at his secretariat here.

Mr Amer signed the agreement as president of the Cooperative Consumer Society, giving its precious 35-kanal land in Lahore for the construction of country’s first-ever information technology park. According to the agreement, the society would have its members employed in the park, besides sharing its profit.

Chief secretary Salman Siddique, P&D chairman Suleman Ghani, Lahore DCO and other officials concerned were present on the occasion.

The chief minister said the park’s building, to be the most modern structure in the country, would prove a center of economic activity. It would generate 10,000 direct and thousands of indirect jobs.

The park would prove an important milestone for the promotion of information technology sector in the country. It would generate vast job opportunities for computer science graduates, software developers, network engineers, management graduates and those related to the IT industry.

It would have business process centres, tele-medicine and call centers where videoconference and other information technology related facilities would be made available.

The chief minister said the project would help Punjab get international recognition in the field of information technology, and link it up with international set up of the technology. It would generate per annum economic activity worth billions of rupees, and accelerate the pace of local and foreign investment.

He said the land for the park would be provided by the cooperative society whereas resources by the IT Board. The IT Park had been designed by a Singapore company of world repute.