On Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared that the government would spend $1 billion on AI by 2030.
The dates of the Indus AI Week 2026 are February 9–15 (Sunday). “Pakistan’s official national platform for artificial intelligence — where policy, innovation, talent, and investment converge” is how the event’s website puts it.
Speaking at the event’s inaugural ceremony in Islamabad, the premier stated, “The government of Pakistan is committed to investing $1 billion in AI by 2030, which will go a long way in building an AI ecosystem in our country.”
PM Shehbaz announced that an AI curriculum would be implemented “not only in all federally-controlled or -run schools but all schools” in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), as part of the nation’s ongoing efforts to stay up to date with contemporary technologies.
He emphasized that in order to “pair our youth for leadership and digital economy,” the strategy would also be executed in distant areas of Balochistan.
The prime minister added that in order to establish Pakistan’s “world-class research center fully capacitated,” the government would offer 1,000 fully-funded PHD scholarships in artificial intelligence to students nationwide by 2030.
Finally, he stated, “We will start a nationwide initiative to teach 1 million non-IT professionals AI skills so they can improve their productivity and standard of living.”
PM Shehbaz declared, “Pakistan is fully prepared to take on the challenge and walk with our international partners, absolutely with great commitment and dedication.”
He went on to explain that the government wanted to empower the youth, who make up 60% of the nation’s population, and that agriculture, mining, and minerals will be among the areas of concentration.
He assured them that the government will introduce programs to “transform them from IT technicians to AI experts,” adding that “we have to empower them with modern knowledge and modern techniques, and IT startups and IT technicians are already very concerned and feeling the heat and the challenge.”
He went on to say that this will lead to previously unheard-of increases in industrial growth, women’s empowerment, and agricultural yield, quality, and efficiency.
In July 2025, the government established the National AI Policy, which aims to improve public services, provide new job opportunities, and democratize access to artificial intelligence.
However, a government decision to change the AI Council’s makeup and a lack of response from provincial governments have caused the policy’s implementation to stall more than six months after it was approved.
Developing “Awareness and Readiness” is the only tenet of the National AI Policy that is presently being implemented. According to officials, the first step in this direction is the Indus AI week.
“Very much of a game-changer”
This will be nothing short of a game-changer, the premier said at the beginning of his speech, adding that the Indus AI Week is “going to not only change the technological landscape of Pakistan.”
“We will begin running on this shared pathway with great commitment and enthusiasm in cooperation with our most friendly and brotherly nations,” he continued.
The government of his brother, former Premier Nawaz Sharif, was “doing everything we could to be in line with modern requirements and meet modern challenges,” PM Shehbaz said.
The government implemented a number of programs that were “very, very relevant and important to the promotion of education, health, revenues, and encouraging our youth,” he recalled, while serving as Punjab’s chief minister at the time.
The Punjab government launched a laptop distribution program in 2010 for the province’s institutions and schools, the premier said. He added that in order to create “additional revenue which was being siphoned off through collusion,” the government introduced e-libraries and e-stamp papers.
The computerization of Punjab’s land records, which was done in “great partnership with the World Bank, which eased out corrupt revenue officers,” was another argument made by PM Shehbaz.
They were at their workplaces with baggage. Money was passed between hands as they tampered with the record. “Complete digitization brought all of this to a grinding halt,” he claimed.
The prime minister emphasized that Lahore was home to the nation’s first IT university and Safe City project, which uses security cameras to lower crime.
“We are now learning from the past, and Pakistan is fully prepared to join the global community in the field of AI interventions,” he said.
PM Shehbaz also spoke on the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) digitalization effort, stating that it was “almost transformed” at this stage.
It’s doing a fantastic job,” he remarked. Through a variety of cutting-edge measures, including the installation of scanners and other electronic tools at Pakistani ports, we have managed smuggling in the country.
“Through these platforms, we are recovering lost amounts of money [and] tax evaded through collusion.”
“We have a strong, unflinching commitment. We shall never turn around and will continue to march forward until the day nears when Pakistan will discover its place in the world community.
According to state-run APP, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja spoke at the ceremony and stated that the goal of Indus AI Week was to improve collaboration between academic institutions, governments, and multinational corporations.
She mentioned that in order to direct future change, the Pakistan Digital Authority was creating a national digital master plan.
The world has reached a period where intellect itself has turned into a factor of production, with countries competing on ideas, skill, data, and technology rather than commodities, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal emphasized in his speech.
According to him, artificial intelligence is a greater “disruptor” than the internet or electricity.
According to the minister, early IT policies, the establishment of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), and significant investments in cutting-edge human capital marked the beginning of Pakistan’s technological participation more than 20 years ago.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
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