At the Building Tomorrow event in Karachi on 22 September 2025, the Ministry of IT & Telecom and the Pakistan Software Export Board unveiled the Prime Minister’s SkillTech Pakistan programme, a national platform aimed at accelerating digital skills and capacity building across the country.
Shaza Fatima Khawaja announced that the platform will roll out six flagship programmes to equip young Pakistanis with globally competitive skills and to strengthen industry linkages that support international compliance for tech firms. The initiative is designed to open pathways for internships, certifications and collaborative industry hubs.
The minister paid tribute to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and highlighted earlier successes including the DigiSkills initiative which has trained more than 3 million Pakistanis and contributed to IT exports reaching US $691 million between July and August 2025. SkillTech Pakistan is presented as the next step in realising the government’s vision for a Digital Nation Pakistan.
Abu Bakr, CEO of PSEB, said the programme aims to make Pakistan’s youth employable and competitive on the global stage and set an ambitious target to train more than 2.1 million Pakistanis over the next three years. He described this roadmap as central to positioning Pakistan as a regional digital hub.
SkillTech Pakistan will deliver multiple targeted interventions. The Skill Bridge domain will connect ICT graduates with employers through paid internships and apprenticeships, while the Certified to Export C2X strand will help IT firms achieve international certifications including ISO and GDPR compliance. Skilllift 1.0 bootcamps will offer advanced training in areas such as AI, blockchain, cloud computing, web development, mobile applications and software quality assurance.
By combining industry-aligned training, certification support and practical internship opportunities, SkillTech Pakistan seeks to enable Pakistani youth to showcase their talent globally and to support the country’s continued growth in IT exports and digital services.
