By Moaaz Manzoor

The Ministry of IT and Telecom (MoITT) has been pursuing various collaborations with international partners to train up to 300,000 Pakistani youths in advanced digital skills, promote AI adoption, and expand IT exports and digital capacity.

According to a document available with Wealth Pakistan, one of the key initiatives is the Joint Working Group on IT Cooperation with China under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The initiative aims to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the IT industry by developing an innovative and pragmatic digital corridor.
The intended impact is to open new avenues for Pakistani technology companies and expand cooperation in ICT infrastructure development, including fiber optic cable projects, cybersecurity, and human resource development, while enhancing connectivity, emerging technologies, and digital skills.
The document further notes that 24 MoUs were signed with China on September 4, 2025, in Beijing, including one government-to-government, seven government-to-business, and 16 business-to-business agreements aimed at enhancing technological collaboration.
It also highlights a skills training partnership with Huawei, which aims to train up to 300,000 Pakistani youths in advanced ICT skills, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
The initiative seeks to directly address the digital skills gap, foster a skilled workforce for the global digital economy, and accelerate IT exports and job creation by leveraging Huawei’s global expertise and collaboration with Pakistani academic institutions.
Another initiative involves collaboration with Google on AI training. The partnership focuses on training government officials in artificial intelligence as part of a broader national AI push, covering education from school to university levels as well as vocational training.
This effort aims to enhance public sector excellence and support the integration of AI across sectors such as the judiciary, healthcare, and governance to streamline processes and improve service delivery.
The document also outlines collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through Ignite on practical AI use-case development. Priority sectors include EdTech, HealthTech, AgriTech, FinTech, ClimateTech, and GovTech. The initiative translates the national AI policy into actionable solutions while fostering a local AI innovation ecosystem.
Another initiative is a planned nationwide skills training program with ZTE, targeting up to 100,000 trainees, including a proposal for ZTE to establish its eighth global training center in Pakistan. The initiative aims to enhance human resource capacity and strengthen Pakistan’s position as a competitive technology hub.
On the institutional side, the document notes World Bank–supported Digital Economy Enhancement Project initiatives focused on developing digital public infrastructure, improving access to government services, and modernizing governance.
The document also highlights bilateral and multilateral cybersecurity cooperation through PKCERT to address cross-border cyber threats.
Finally, the document records extensive international engagement, including participation in high-level IMM meetings, trade consultations, commerce dialogues, foreign investment discussions at the SIFC, and the signing of landmark MoUs with Azerbaijan, Iran, the UAE, China, and others, alongside the formation and operation of multiple Joint Working Groups.

Credit: INP-WealthPk