The federal government has unveiled a one billion dollar plan to make artificial intelligence a pillar of Pakistan's economy. The announcement came from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the inaugural Indus AI Week in Islamabad, with the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication tasked to lead the effort. The stated goal is a strong national AI ecosystem that places Pakistan among the important players in the global technology race by 2030. In the first phase, the money will go toward core digital infrastructure, especially high performance computing and graphics processing units. These facilities will be opened to businesses, startups, researchers and universities so local teams can build and test AI systems without depending on foreign compute. The plan also promises to train one million professionals in AI skills and to fund one thousand doctoral scholarships in the field, a push meant to deepen the country's research bench. Officials say the investment will speed up research, improve public services and spread AI use across healthcare, agriculture, education, finance and manufacturing. The Special Investment Facilitation Council will run the initiative alongside the ministry and the private sector, and industry leaders have already pledged support. The government expects the program to create jobs, lift IT exports and drive long term growth, calling it a turning point for the digital economy.
mwrana
October 9, 2026
