Pakistan's information technology industry is generating more than USD2 billion in annual exports, making it one of the country's strongest economic sectors, as policymakers look to artificial intelligence and the digital economy to expand foreign-exchange earnings, investment and high-value employment. Ali Dar, Adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister on AI and Special Initiatives, highlighted the industry's export performance while addressing the Pakistan Association of Software Houses (P@SHA) CXO Networking Dinner.
The gathering brought together nearly 200 chief executives from leading Pakistani technology companies, alongside senior government officials, business leaders and representatives of the United States, United Kingdom and other diplomatic missions. Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima attended the event as co-chief guest.
Dar argued that artificial intelligence, digital technologies and the broader technology industry could play a larger role in Pakistan's economy by accelerating exports and strengthening foreign-exchange earnings. He also identified investment and high-value employment for young people as areas where the sector could make a greater contribution. The emphasis on AI reflects Punjab's attempt to place emerging technologies at the centre of its digital strategy.
Dar said the provincial government, under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, was seeking to develop Punjab into a leading artificial-intelligence and technology hub in South Asia. The provincial administration is working to build what Dar described as an AI ecosystem through innovation, digital transformation and strategic partnerships with private businesses. The stated objective is to strengthen Punjab's position in emerging technologies while expanding the province's technological capabilities. Dar placed particular emphasis on collaboration between the state and private companies. He said closer cooperation was essential to developing a knowledge-based economy and improving Pakistan's competitiveness internationally.
That relationship is especially relevant to an industry in which private technology businesses are already generating substantial overseas earnings. Skills development forms another part of the provincial strategy. Dar said equipping young people with artificial-intelligence expertise and advanced digital capabilities remained a priority for the Punjab government. The focus combines two ambitions: expanding the pool of workers capable of participating in technology-intensive industries and using those skills to support further growth in exports and employment. Dar also highlighted the role of P@SHA in strengthening Pakistan's technology ecosystem.
The association's networking event placed government representatives alongside technology executives and business leaders, reflecting the emphasis being put on public-private cooperation. The figures cited at the gathering provide a measure of the sector's economic importance. With annual exports exceeding USD2 billion, Pakistan's IT industry has become a significant source of overseas earnings. The argument presented by Dar is that artificial intelligence could broaden that contribution further by supporting additional exports, attracting investment and creating higher-value jobs.
For Punjab, the ambition is larger still: to use AI, digital transformation, skills development and partnerships with technology companies to establish the province as a regional technology centre. Whether those ambitions translate into the scale of expansion envisaged was not quantified at the event. But the immediate economic case rests on an existing base: an IT industry already earning more than USD2 billion annually from exports, with policymakers now looking to artificial intelligence as a route to its next stage of growth.