Air chief declares NASTP a ‘major landmark’

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal, Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu Saturday declared the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP) as a major landmark, a multi-layered project based on a hybrid model which would cover the private sector and aerospace clusters across all major cities of Pakistan, ARY News reported.

The Air Chief expressed these views while addressing the initial opening before the inaugural ceremony of NASTP.

“We live in a challenging time in the wake of evolving global and regional environment. This is an era of transition that has induced the need to induct niche and disruptive technologies, which has subsequently affected the traditional concept of national security and defense,” Zaheer Ahmed said.

“In order to address the contemporary challenges, the national leadership of Pakistan has envisioned the establishment of a Special Investment Facilitation Council so as to create desired linkages and provide opportunities to different platforms for bringing Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan,” he emphasised.

He noted, “PAF has also planned to play its role in the ongoing national building projects under the umbrella of SIFC, predominantly in the Aerospace and IT domains”.

“The biggest hallmark of the NASTP project is its Aviation Design and Innovation Center comprising of Techno Parks, IT clusters, Nurseries, and Basic Incubation Centers making the project diversified and unprecedented in the history of Pakistan,” the Air chief added.

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“Moreover, the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park has also focused on the much-needed triple helix model in order to embed a culture of sustainability, since its core objectives include the building of local industry and creating an interface between the public sectors.”

“Through the NASTP project, PAF is bringing all organic setups to one place including Nano Technology, Space, Cyber, Artificial Intelligence, Super Computing, Networking, and Algorithms in order to facilitate entrepreneurship and technological skill development in the country,” Sidhu highlighted.

In his concluding remarks, Air Chief Marshal commended the efforts of all the stakeholders for the accomplishment of this mega project in a record time of one year.

He also lauded the efforts put in by all the team members involved in various sectors to make the project successful.