Hamza Saeed

Early life and background

Saeed studied at a cadet college. He says that all his life he had wanted to be an engineer, a mechanical engineer. [1]

Education

Saeed says his batch was the first to apply to LUMS. He says he ended up at LUMS by accident because his friends were applying. He graduated from LUMS, where he took double majors in Economics and Mathematics with a minor in Finance. [1]

He also took several courses in law and the constitution. He says much of his learning at LUMS came outside lectures. He says many of his LUMS batchmates went abroad. [1]

Career

Saeed joined the oil industry. He says he joined as a marketing and accounts executive. He opened a small stock market account. [1]

Saeed says he began researching CPEC and became absorbed by it. He says he joined as an associate and quickly climbed up the ladder. He says his economics and financial skills were used to polish and write a lot of assessments. He was part of a delegation of around 100 bureaucrats. [1]

Special Technology Zone

Saeed says that as a director he manages teams. He says the most real skill he has learned is how to manage difficult people. He says all the young people he has hired are 21 years old. [1]

He says the Special Technology Zones Authority makes plans for 15 to 20 years. He says a university is the core of a technology zone because that is where knowledge workers are trained. He says zone enterprises are the end customers, including startups, SMEs and large companies. He says the special technology zone focuses on the factors of production of the fourth industrial revolution. [1]

He says a zone licence gives ten years of zero tax and zero customs duty, and that a technology zone offers a ten-year tax holiday and a ten-year customs holiday. He says the 52% who are women are being targeted, and that the focus is now on millennials. He says special laws for venture capital are introduced. [1]

He says roads, power and water are being provided, and that the cost of doing business within these zones is being reduced for the zone developer. He says a one-window service is being brought in. He says a person could register a company, hire people, open a bank account and create an NTN. He says that for the first time people will be able to operate dollar accounts and send money freely. He says incentives were vulnerable because a tax authority could issue an SRO cancelling them. [1]

Approval and rollout

Saeed says unanimous approval was received and that he saluted every political party. He says it passed the National Assembly and was coming to the Senate. He says the rules were approved within three months, which he calls the fastest ever in the history of Pakistan. He says the rules give priority to the private sector. [1]

He says the Prime Minister approved a national roll-out plan. He says a special technology zone will be announced in every province, Azad Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit within six months. He says freelancers and local tech companies will have places to get incentives within six months. He says there is a pipeline of around 13 technology zones, and that around 10 of those have been pitched by the private sector. He says around 20 to 25 proposals have been received so far. [1]

He says 150 acres have been acquired in Islamabad. He said construction would probably start in 45 days, and that the project will include a tier 4 data center. He says that within two years one can expect a special technology zone with a building, and that the zone will be more of a mini city than a single building. He says the intent is to compete with parks in Singapore and Dubai. [1]

Views on China

Saeed says China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, which he puts at 75% of global poverty reduction. He says the Chinese economy has remained undervalued. He says China will be the number one economy by 2030 in nominal GDP terms. He says the rise of China is inevitable and the only question is when. He says China is doing well on economic and technology strategy. [1]

He says that when China declares a new city, it moves conferences there. He says China invested heavily in training and vocational programmes as foreign technology arrived. He says Deng Xiaoping pushed to move decisions from Beijing down to town level. He says special economic zones were focused on large-scale manufacturing. He describes a special economic zone as an 800 acre area with its own laws and no tax. [1]

Views on Pakistan and technology

Saeed says Pakistan can change its alliances but cannot change its neighbours. He says a major failure in Pakistan was that no one could think beyond CPEC, roads and infrastructure. He says Pakistanis do well abroad but not at home. He says 65% of Pakistan's population is under 30. He says fake degrees are a problem in Pakistan. [1]

He says the Silicon Valley concept came out of Stanford in the 1960s. He says the triple helix model has become a quadruple helix that includes civil society. He says knowledge workers became a new factor of production. He says a blockchain ledger cannot be changed or defrauded. He says 5G will bring remote surgeries. [1]

He says Pakistan has a fairly large freelancer community in the IT industry. He says India began building science and technology parks in 2001. He says Pakistan missed out on about 3 billion dollars from the Careem acquisition. He says change comes from within. [1]

Appearances

Frequently asked questions

References

1. Why Pakistan drew a border around technology . Thought Behind Things , 2021-08-06.