Thousands of people moving along Ferozepur Road, Lahore come across a gigantic but attractive structure of a building every day. However, very few have ever got a chance to get inside. Situated close to the Children’s Hospital, it is so far the tallest building in the city.

Named Arfa Software Technology Park (ASTP), this 17-storey building that measures 106 metres in height was inaugurated by the Punjab government in February 2012. It was envisaged to be a highly organised Information Technology (IT) hub that would support IT-based businesses, give an enabling environment to technology-based concerns and offer a one-window operation to attract local and foreign investors in the IT sector.

At the time of its launch, the building was called Lahore Technology Park but later it was named after the late Arfa Abdul Karim Randhawa, an extraordinarily talented girl who died in 2012 at a young age of 16. Arfa was the youngest Microsoft-certified professional in the world who had won this certification when she was only nine years old.

Initially, there were a lot of apprehensions about the success of ASTP as people doubted that the government and the private sector would go together. Some entrepreneurs, who were not comfortable with the idea of ASTP being managed, operated and maintained by the government, feared that service delivery would be poor in this case. Besides, they apprehended there would be unnecessary government intervention in the affairs of the tenants. Their outright opinion was that "the biggest favour the government could do to the IT industry was to stay out of it."

Almost three years down the road, there are reports that things are not gloomy at all and Pakistan’s IT industry that suffered after 9/11 is on its road to recovery.

As a large number of country’s software houses and IT businesses are based in Lahore, making it the IT hub of the country, TNS chose to profile the city’s IT industry.

During discussions with different IT industry players, it was discovered that almost all of them considered ASTP as the most cherished and suitable facility to run their business from. This, despite the fact that it was being managed by the government.

So, the question that arises here is as to what makes ASTP such a perfect spot for IT industry?

The answer comes from Awais Arshad, Building Management System (BMS) engineer and supervisor at the building. "Though it is a government-owned and managed building, it is run in a highly professional manner and corporate environment. We are here to serve the tenants and save them from any hassles."

To support his claim, Arshad says that presently there is not even a single square foot space available at ASTP and the occupancy rate is 100 per cent.

The total number of existing tenants is 63 whereas the number of businesses aspiring to have office space here is 296. So the queue is long and new tenants can get possession turn-wise and only when the existing tenants leave.

Awais says that the tenants hardly leave and those who left did so because they had closed their operations/businesses. Why would the operational businesses leave when there is no compatible place available in the city, he asks.

The existing tenants of ASTP include the Directorate of Monitoring Home Department, Lahore City Traffic Police, Information Technology University (ITU), Microsoft Pakistan, Interactive Group, Punjab Metro Bus Authority, Nespak, Abacus Consulting, Cyber Intelligence Solutions, Dell Pakistan, E-Cart Services Pakistan Pvt. Ltd, Future Technologies, General Electric, Monsanto Pakistan (Pvt) Limited, Teradata Global Consulting Pakistan, 4M Wireless and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB).

The major facilities offered by ASTP include a fool-proof security system that can even detect explosives and relies on machines as well as sniff dogs, a parking facility with Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID), disabled-friendly elevators and ramps, the fastest moving elevators in the country, fire-grade material and pressurized stairs to avoid and resist fires, triple source power backup (two Wapda lines and Gensets), IP-based Building Management System (IBMS), a dedicated internet bandwidth and fibre optic connectivity within the building on all floors.

A senior executive of a software house, who has submitted his application for office space, however, has some reservations. He fears his application may not be considered if he talks to media on record.

He says it is sheer discrimination that the people doing the same business in the same city are not provided a level field. "On the one hand, the tenants of ASTP enjoy all the facilities in the world, on the other hand the IT businesses based outside have to suffer due to prolonged loadshedding, low internet connectivity, security risks and other problems.

"The government gives it step treatment," he declares.

His point is that the government shall provide them space at ASTP or create extra space as they are ready to pay a higher rent.

The applicant also says he is too desperate to secure space here. Once this happens, his employer will expand operations and if it doesn’t he will withdraw and may even wind up from Lahore.

He asks if the space was so limited why did the Punjab government have to occupy its floors.

He also talks about rumours he has heard that the government may construct another identical tower at the recently vacated land of once Kot Lakhpat, Sabzi Mandi but nobody has confirmed it officially. "If this happens, Pakistan will have its own twin towers for the first time."

According to Faisal Yousaf, Project Director ASTP and DG IT Operations, PITB, they are providing the best possible services and it is natural for the aspiring tenants to feel desperate for a lack of space. "I wish we had more space so that we could accommodate each and every IT sector concern desirous of coming here."

Faisal says that the rent they charged was between Rs110 per sq ft and Rs130 per sq ft depending on the floor where the space was located. "This may appear to be on the higher side but it is not. In fact, janitorial services, security, maintenance and 10-hour air-conditioning are also offered free of cost to the tenants. If the tenants need more air-conditioning they are charged a reasonable amount of Rs15 per square foot per hour. So, the rent components come around Rs60 or so.

"We are self-sufficient and providing a service and not running it as a commercial venture," he adds. "Despite the high demand, rents have only increased by 10 per cent a year."

Sajid Latif, DG e-governance, PITB, says the board has occupied a floor at the facility but it is not without reason. In fact, he says, they are working on dozens of e-governance projects and facilitating IT start-ups and freelancers who want to excel in life.

He also says that the IT sector is the focus of the Punjab government which has allocated billions of rupees for its promotion in the provincial budget for 2014-2015, and the PITB will do its best to help the government achieve its objectives.

Sajjad Mahmood, Facilities Officer at Ublox, a company that develops and markets leading GPS technology and GPS chip sets, believes their majors wanted to have an office environment identical to the one that existed in offices in other countries. "We could not find a place better than this."

He says that everyday they come to the office with a fresh mind and get down to work in a plug-and-play environment. If there is a problem with services, it is intimated immediately to the building maintenance team that fixes it without delay.

Dr Umar Saif, Chairman PITB, says it was not easy to market the place at the outset and he "had to call the companies personally like a property dealer."

The companies had apprehensions as it was a government-owned building but things improved when Dell, Microsoft and some other big, international names moved in.

Umar says that not a single staff member, including him, was a regular employee of the government. "We are all on contract and believe in result-oriented work. You can pay a surprise visit here any time and you will see people coming on time and working late, out of their own will. I think this is not the scene at a typical government office.

He supports the idea of having more facilities like ASTP if Pakistan wants to excel in the IT industry. "This is extremely important as I know that many international companies would not have come to the country if ASTP had not been here. They have very high expectations and standards.

"We have committed to switching to backup power supply within 18 seconds in the event of a power failure. If we are late even by a second, we receive complaints from head offices of our tenants."