The Government of Pakistan and Google signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at exploring avenues to accelerate national digital transformation, expand digital skills, and foster AI-driven innovation across key sectors, in support of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s vision of boosting Pakistan’s IT exports and digital economy towards $30 billion by 2030.
The Prime Minister hosted a special reception in honour of the visiting Google leadership delegation, and witnessed the signing ceremony. The event was also attended by Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Google Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy Wilson White, US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker, and other senior officials.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said, “It’s a wonderful day in our partnership. It’s a stepping stone towards a long journey of contributing towards a field that is very important. We’ll empower our youth through these modern tools and techniques and technology. It’s very interesting that the delegation is here at a time when Pakistan is going through a major digital transformation in many areas, including governance. We have a youth bulge and we can really turn around Pakistan’s fortunes.”
Minister for IT and Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated, “Over the last two years, our government has worked tirelessly to modernize Pakistan’s digital infrastructure, ease the process of doing business, and expand our IT skills base and human resource capacity. Today’s event stands as a testament to the progress we have achieved under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as we continue to advance Pakistan’s digital transformation agenda and position our nation as a competitive player in the global digital economy.”
Farhan Qureshi Google Cluster Director for Pakistan, The Philippines and Thailand said, “Building on the momentum of our recent office inauguration, we are honored to further deepen our partnership with Pakistan. This collaboration marks a major step forward in unlocking the nation’s digital potential and empowering its next generation of talent. By expanding access to critical skills, cutting-edge AI tools, and key sector innovations, Google is proud to support Pakistan’s journey toward a $30 billion digital economy.”
The MoU was signed by Zarrar Hasham Khan, Secretary of the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, and David Weller, Google’s Head of South-East Asia and South Asia Public Policy establishing a framework to explore key initiatives including Google Career Certificates, student access to Gemini, the exploration of a Google AI Centre of Excellence, mobile application and gaming accelerators, digital payment enhancements, and government-wide digital transformation through sectoral AI.
As part of the initiative to expand technical training, Google aims to deliver 150,000 Google Career Certificates in 2026 to help Pakistani youth gain high-demand, market-ready skills. Google plans to explore further expansion of the certificate program beyond 2026 to continue driving employment opportunities in rapidly growing sectors.
The MoU outlines plans to evaluate providing advanced AI tools—such as a one-year subscription to Gemini AI Plus and Gemini Notebook—to students across Pakistan. This support aims to enhance their academic and research capabilities, boosting their global competitiveness and advancing national IT export targets.
Both sides expressed their intent to explore establishing a dedicated AI Centre of Excellence in Islamabad to train Pakistani youth and human resources to meet international tech market standards.
The MOU intends to explore collaborating on the adoption of AI to improve the delivery of government services and the efficiency of government operations, as well as adoption of AI infrastructure and solutions by key sectors, including, but not limited to enhancing the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) data analytics and process automation as part of the Prime Minister’s FBR Transformation Plan.
The parties aim to explore the integration of AI into the agricultural sector for crop monitoring, yield forecasting, and sustainable farming, while digital platforms aspire to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in expanding their footprint into global markets.
Under the MoU, Google and Pakistan aim to work together to support local app developers and gaming studios, while exploring ways to strengthen the digital payments ecosystem and expand digital trade.
A joint working group comprising representatives from the government, Google, and key industry stakeholders is intended to be formed to identify impediments and enablers to IT export growth, including an investment framework for hardware manufacturing and services, enhancing global market reach, and upskilling of human resources.
