Quantum Valley Pakistan, a project likened to America’s Silicon Valley, was launched in Islamabad on Wednesday, with Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal as the chief guest.

The Planning Ministry described Quantum Valley Pakistan as a project aimed at connecting academia, entrepreneurs, government and investors to turn “knowledge into solutions, startups into scalable ventures and innovation into national impact”.

The project aims to create new pathways for Pakistani talent in AI, quantum computing, fintech, agritech, biotechnology, medtech, digital solutions and autonomous technologies, the ministry said.

California’s venture capital firm Plug and Play and the Cambridge Innovation Centre collaborated with the government for the project.

Addressing the launch ceremony, Iqbal said, “We are actually setting a new pathway for Pakistan’s future”.

“Pakistan is ready for innovation takeoff,” he said.

He stressed that this was not an ordinary collaboration, adding that the two companies would bring to Pakistan the “best of innovation in the world and the United States”.

Describing the collaboration as a “unique opportunity” for Pakistan, Iqbal expressed hope for the growth of the country’s technology sector. He said that the paradigm of national progress had shifted in the 21st century, with “brain power” now being a key requirement for development.

The planning minister added that the foundations for growth being established through Quantum Valley would allow Pakistan’s youth to compete with the youth of the world in terms of tech growth and startups.

“Today, we stand at an inflection point,” Iqbal said, adding that in the past two years, Pakistan had seen many successes, namely Marka-i-Haq and recent diplomacy efforts in the US-Iran war.

“In my lifetime, I had never seen that for an entire week, media from the US to Australia was only mentioning Islamabad,” he said, referring to the Islamabad talks in April.

Successes achieved in defence and diplomacy, if not supplemented by a strong economy, can blur over time, Iqbal said.

Alluding to Marka-i-Haq, Iqbal said the nation had to rise to the occasion of “Marka-i-Taraqi” and aim to build a $1 trillion economy by 2035 under the Uraan Pakistan programme. He further said the economy should grow to $3 trillion by 2047, when the country marks its centenary.

Uraan Pakistan is an initiative of the Planning Ministry designed to advance key projects and reforms set out in the 5Es National Economic Transformation Plan.

“These goals are ambitious but not impossible,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal urged the nation to move away from the status quo and instead opt for a “transformational path”.

The ceremony also included the inauguration of the Global Venture Acceleration Programme for local startups, under which they would receive mentorship over 15 weeks, along with a two-week global immersion in Silicon Valley or Boston.