KARACHI: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and the National University of Technology (NUTECH) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) wherein both institutions have mutually agreed upon principles for the establishment of NUTECH Karachi Campus (NKC) to be constructed on a 50-acres land provided by the Airport Security Force (ASF) at M-9 Superhighway.
According to the MoU signed by President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh and Rector NUTECH Islamabad Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Moazzam Ejaz, NUTECH, and KCCI will also jointly develop NKC academics, research & skills systems based on exports-supported strategies. Moreover, through NKC, NUTECH and KCCI will collaborate for intellectual, research, academic, and professional cooperation to promote the creation, development, implementation, transfer, and export of indigenous industrial knowledge, technologies, and skills which will be beneficial for Karachi-based industries through imports substitution, technology upgradation, value-addition, and exports enhancement.
The MoU signing ceremony held at KCCI was also attended by the Director General Airport Security Force (ASF) Maj. Gen. Adnan Asif Jha Shad, Pro-Rector NUTECH Maj. Gen. Khalid Javed, Registrar NUTECH Brigadier Dr. Syed Adnan Qasim, Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) Zubair Motiwala, Vice Chairman BMG Jawed Bilwani, General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, Senior Vice President KCCI Altaf Ghaffar, Vice President KCCI Tanveer Barry, Former Presidents Muhammad Idrees, Muhammed Tariq Yousuf and others.
Speaking on the occasion, Rector NUTECH Lt. Gen. (Retd) Moazzam Ejaz stated that Karachi was the most important and vibrant city which simply cannot be compared with any other city of Pakistan as Karachi alone contributes 70 percent of revenue to the national exchequer which is a matter of pride for the entire country.
Terming Karachi as ‘a locomotive force’ which pulls the entire Pakistan, he said, “The way Karachi has been running the entire Pakistan, I hope other cities would also make similar contribution which would help in resolving many economic issues being faced by Pakistan.”
Praising the role being played by the private sector in Pakistan’s economic development, he said that on the other hand, the performance of public sector institutions has been really demoralizing because of bureaucracy which requires a lot of improvement.
Highlighting NUTECH’s journey since it was dreamed of in 2015 and came into existence in 2018, he said that the success of NUTECH can be gauged from the fact that it has recently been selected as one of the hundred most innovative universities worldwide in 2023 by the World University Ranking for Innovation which was, indeed, a great achievement and truly an honor for the entire Pakistan.
He said that NUTECH Karachi Campus, which is going to be an export enhancement project, was envisaged by the end of 2020 and the project has been gradually progressing towards becoming a reality that would generate skillful workers for Karachi-based industries exactly as per their requirements.
Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala, while highlighting the overall struggle jointly carried out by KCCI and NUTECH for NUTECH’s Karachi Campus, appreciated ASF for providing land for this project.
Referring to his visit to NUTECH Islamabad, Zubair Motiwala said that he was surprised to see an institute that was teaching metallurgy, air pressures, and almost everything required by the industries. NUTECH Islamabad has been working very hard to enhance exports by creating expertise amongst the people of Pakistan. “I, hence, felt it necessary to strive for the establishment of NUTECH in Karachi which is the financial, commercial, and industrial hub of the country.”
He informed that under the KCCI-NUTECH MoU, a Joint Working Group (JWG) will be established wherein a majority of the representatives will be from KCCI. The joint working group would create NKC departmental industry advisory boards for periodic review of curricula and industrial research work, scrutinize NKC industry projects including faculty training on projects supervision, and oversee the NKC academic system in vogue for its support to industry.
KCCI-NKC JWG would identify the required technical, vocational skills and competency standards needed for the Karachi industry, especially to facilitate exports and their enhancement in addition to creating ‘Need-Driven’ joint “NKC-Industry Technology Platforms” (NITP) of relevant academic and industry experts for exports enhancement so as to design and develop hi-tech value-added products.
“Pakistan is blessed with abundant resources and excellent weather which is ideal for farming almost everything. It is a country that is the fourth largest producer of cotton and milk, the eighth largest producer of rice, the eleventh largest producer of wheat, and the list goes on, yet Pakistan is unable to expand its exports only because of the fact that we have failed to add value to agricultural and industrial products”, he opined.
“Due to lack of value-addition, we have actually become suppliers of raw materials to our competitors in the international market which is an issue”, he said, adding that exports were the mainstay of Pakistan and all the issues being faced nowadays are due to lower exports and higher imports.
He stressed that the trade deficit of around US$20 billion every year cannot be filled through loans or any other foreign assistance so the only viable option is to increase the exports and decrease the imports. “This is where NUTECH can support us by teaching us how to create economies of scale, how to minimize the cost of doing business, and how to increase capacity utilization. Pakistan exports can be raised by US$100 billion through 20 percent value addition in Pakistan’s resources.”
Earlier, President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, in his speech, stated that KCCI and NUTECH were keen to establish long-term and sustainable partnerships on an intellectual and professional basis and on a mutual basis to promote technological innovations and stimulate economic activities in the country.
He was of the view that the MoU between NUTECH and KCCI would facilitate both institutions on mutual grounds by fostering collaboration in research, technology transfer, and skills development. “NUTECH can offer specialized expertise, research capabilities, and educational resources, while KCCI can provide real-world industry insights, practical challenges, and opportunities for application of NUTECH’s research and technology.
He said that the collaboration between KCCI and NETCH would lead to the development of cutting-edge technologies e.g., Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, 5G Technology, Cybersecurity, etc., besides promoting startups which would result in addressing societal challenges and ultimately enhancing overall economic and social well-being.
