Pakistan, Sept. 22 — Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja said on Monday that Pakistan’s IT and telecom sector had recorded strong growth in recent years, with technology exports increasing by 20 to 21 per cent annually. Speaking at the USEFP Innovation Hive Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, she said more than half of Pakistan’s technology exports were directed to the United States, making it the country’s strongest technology partner. She said the presence of US technology companies in Pakistan had also grown in recent months, calling it an encouraging development for the country’s technology ecosystem.
“Physical presence of all these big tech companies coming in is a testament to the kind of market, people and the strength that our youth holds,” she said.
Shaza Fatima said Google had welcomed a Chromebook assembly line in Pakistan last year and opened its office in the country this year. Apple, she added, had appointed its first head of government affairs for Pakistan, who was based in the country. She also mentioned Plug and Play’s presence in Pakistan as an accelerator and support organisation for the technology and startup ecosystem. The minister said the growing presence of global technology companies showed their confidence in Pakistan’s market, people and young population.
She expressed hope that more US technology companies would establish a presence in Pakistan.
Shaza Fatima Khawaja said the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication was working on several initiatives to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among young Pakistanis. She said Ignite was serving as the country’s research and development fund and supporting startups and innovation. The government had also launched the Pakistan Startup Fund about two years ago to provide financial support to startups, she said.
She noted that global venture capital funding had declined sharply during 2022-23, with Pakistan among the countries hit hardest by the reduction in startup funding.
She said work on the Pakistan Startup Fund had begun in 2023, when she was serving as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs. At the time, she had worked with the Ministry of IT to prepare the first document for the fund.
The minister said the government had now started disbursing funds to some startups. She said the second round would be more ambitious and would seek to establish a baseline anchor fund. The government would provide a minimum $10 million seed grant, while the World Bank and other development partners would support the creation of a larger fund in Pakistan.
The aim, she said, was to attract more international capital and eventually develop the initiative into a fund of funds.
She said the government would not manage the fund itself.
“I am quite adamant that the government of Pakistan will not be managing the fund,” she said. She said some of the world’s leading fund managers would be brought in to manage the initiative. This, she added, would help build confidence among international venture capital investors.
The government was also working to diversify risks and improve access to capital for Pakistani startups, she said.
The minister said the Ministry of IT was operating around eight National Incubation Centres across the country. A new incubation centre had also recently been established specifically for women founders, providing them with a dedicated platform to develop their businesses and ideas.
She said entrepreneurship had significant potential to create jobs and contribute to economic growth.
“Programs like the Hive really allow for that entrepreneurial activity to thrive,” she said. The minister said the value of Innovation Hive went beyond providing physical space to entrepreneurs. According to the briefing she received, the programme would offer mentorship and help young entrepreneurs gain access to markets and build partnerships. “We need to go end to end,” she said. She said different organisations often worked in silos, creating gaps in support for young entrepreneurs.
“Sometimes we work in silos and that is where the connections break,” she said.
An organisation might mentor young people at one stage but leave them to find partners and opportunities when they entered the wider market, she added.
Shaza said the Innovation Hive model could help bridge this gap by providing support throughout an entrepreneur’s journey.
She said it was better to support a smaller number of people from start to finish than to work with a large number and leave many without support midway.
“I am of the opinion that we should do lesser number of people but make sure that we take them to the full end rather than doing a lot of people but then leaving most of them in the middle,” she said.
She said the Hive’s ability to provide entrepreneurial space and connect startups with real-world markets was the project’s main value. The minister said Pakistan’s partnerships with international partners covered technology, education, social development and entrepreneurship, as well as wider global issues.
She also credited cooperation over the previous year and a half with helping create an environment in which initiatives such as Innovation Hive could be celebrated safely.
She said when the present government assumed office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed that digital technology, IT and telecommunications should become a core foundation for the country.
She recalled that the prime minister had called ministers to his office shortly after they took oath and directed them to treat digital technology not as a separate sector but as an enabler across all sectors.
“The first directive that came up was that digital IT and telecom will become the core foundation, not just as a vertical, but as an enabler across all sectors,” she said.
She said technology was now linked to almost every sector, including health, education, finance, agriculture, manufacturing and supply chains. “Everything has tech attached to it today,” she said. The government was therefore pursuing digital transformation in governance, the economy and society, while also working to increase technology exports and develop policies to support the IT industry, private sector and young entrepreneurs, she said. She said the prime minister had provided a clear roadmap and vision for these initiatives. Progress was being reviewed through quarterly meetings chaired by him.
The prime minister was also holding monthly meetings focused on the employability of young Pakistanis, she said.
She added that the government was regularly reporting relevant figures and tracking progress under these initiatives. “These programmes and initiatives really help us take those numbers up and support our young people across the country,” she said. The minister said the combination of technology exports, international partnerships, startup support, incubation and digital transformation could help Pakistan unlock the potential of its young population. She thanked the organisers, partners and participants of the USEFP Innovation Hive initiative and expressed hope that upcoming cohorts would develop their ideas and connect with markets and international partners.
