The Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), operating under the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, has signed an agreement with the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), acting through its College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (CEME), to launch an Upskilling Training Program (USTP) under the Prime Minister’s National Semiconductor Human Resource Development Program (NSHRDP), also known as INSPIRE. The agreement was signed in Islamabad by Dr Henna Karamat, Project Director of NSHRDP at PSEB, and Dr Usman Akram, Head of the Department of Computer and Software Engineering at CEME, NUST, formalizing NUST’s role in delivering the training component of the broader semiconductor workforce development program.
Speaking at the signing, PSEB CEO Faisal Jeddy highlighted the progress NSHRDP has made through both USTP and the Semiconductor Education and Research Cluster (SERC) initiative, describing the importance of building a national ecosystem for semiconductor and chip design as central to the program’s long term goals. He stressed the need for close collaboration among academia, industry, government, and the Pakistani diaspora to develop high quality semiconductor design talent, expand chip design capabilities, and connect Pakistani engineers with global expertise, industry networks, and international opportunities. This framing positions the NUST agreement as one piece of a larger coordinated push that has already seen PSEB establish three regional SERC clusters earlier this year, with NUST leading activities in the North Region, ESUPAK-UET Lahore covering the Central Region, and NED University leading the South.
Under the specific agreement signed with NUST, USTP Level-1 Batch-1 Lot-2 will see 200 trainees receive industry focused training aimed at contributing to the development of a skilled and industry ready semiconductor workforce in Pakistan. This batch adds to earlier USTP cohorts launched under the same NSHRDP framework, including an agreement between GIKI and NED University signed earlier in the year that focused specifically on digital design and verification training over a four month programme. With NUST now formally brought into the USTP training pipeline, the program’s geographic and institutional reach continues to expand beyond its initial partner universities, reflecting NSHRDP’s broader target of developing more than 7,200 semiconductor professionals in Pakistan by 2030.
NSHRDP, backed by a total approved budget of Rs 4.844 billion, has positioned itself as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s flagship initiative for building a globally competitive semiconductor workforce, with PSEB spearheading implementation across multiple universities and training institutions. As USTP training batches continue to roll out across partner institutions including GIKI, NED, and now NUST, the practical measure of the program’s success will depend on how effectively the 200 trainees under this latest batch, along with those in earlier cohorts, are able to translate their specialized training into roles within Pakistan’s growing semiconductor design and chip verification industry, or attract international opportunities in markets like China and Saudi Arabia where demand for such skills remains high.
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