Saudi Arabia’s Prince Fahad bin Mansour Alsaud formally launched the $100-million Saudi-Pakistan Tech House (SPTH) in Pakistan on Monday, with the aim to create over 1,000 jobs at a total project value of $100 million in the IT sector over the next five years, according to a statement.
The SPTH launch event was organised by the Saudi embassy in Islamabad with high-ranking officials, including Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), prominent CEOs from the IT sector and other dignitaries attending the event.
“I believe that with such a huge IT infrastructure, talent and start-ups in Pakistan, both private sectors can forge partnerships that can be the game changer in the IT sector for both countries,” HRH Prince Fahad bin Mansour was quoted as saying in his address.
The project, which was announced at the Future Fesr 2023 in January, aims to promote greater business in the information technology sector in Pakistan and enhance the IT sector relationship between the two countries.
The SPTH will be headquartered in the Saudi capital Riyadh and have its first branch in Lahore. The project is “part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which has taken Saudi Arabia’s relations with Pakistan as high as the sky,” HRH Prince Fahad said.
The Prince is the President of the Saudi G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA) and the Founder of Entrepreneurship Vision, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) focusing on working with entrepreneurs and supporting the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
HRH Prince Fahad also highlighted the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 as a roadmap to Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz and drawn up by HRH Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, which has “opened Saudi Arabia to the world, built and launched platforms for future growth, and significantly improved citizens’ quality of life”.
Vision 2030 is deepening existing strategic relationship in all fields, HRH Prince Fahad bin Mansour said, promising to forge partnerships with IT companies and big enterprises in Pakistan through 300+ projects.
He welcomed Pakistan’s entrepreneurs, SMEs, and its tech venture capital (VC) ecosystem to work with their Saudi counterparts and further boost the relationship between the two countries.
Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said in his speech that the “launching (of SPTH) is a major step to strengthen Saudi-Pakistan relations in the field of Information Technology and will lead to strengthening investment partnerships and launching of multiple platforms for future growth in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030”.
The envoy said he believed that the private sector in both countries will flourish as a result.
