Government of Pakistan officials and Alibaba representatives signed a set of strategic memoranda at Alibaba’s Hangzhou headquarters on 24 May 2026, aiming to fast-track the country’s digital transformation across AI, cloud services, healthcare technology, SME enablement and digital payments. The agreements were witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai and involve Pakistani partners Ignite National Technology Fund, Sky47 and SMEDA alongside Alibaba Cloud, DAMO Academy, Alibaba.com and Koko Tech.
The Pakistan AI partnership will see Ignite and Alibaba Cloud collaborate to build secure, localized AI and cloud solutions, including foundation models tailored for Urdu and regional languages to serve education, healthcare and agriculture. The programme includes a nationwide skills initiative targeting 500,000 people—developers, students and public servants—through training and certifications, and a joint AI hackathon focused on smart agriculture, financial inclusion and Urdu language technologies to energise local developer communities.
In healthcare, DAMO Academy and Sky47 will deploy AI-enabled multi-disease screening tools that analyse non-contrast CT scans to detect lesions often difficult to identify visually, enabling earlier screening for cancers such as pancreatic and liver cancer. Sky47 plans phased rollouts in cities including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, while DAMO Academy and Ignite will support academic capacity building through online courses, workshops and community events to strengthen embodied intelligence skills at Pakistani universities.
To boost exports and digital trade, Alibaba.com and SMEDA will deliver AI-driven training to 10,000 SMEs using Alibaba’s enterprise AI agent Accio Work, and onboard at least 2,000 businesses onto a dedicated Pakistan Pavilion that connects sellers with more than 50 million global buyers. Services like Trade Assurance and Verified Supplier certification will be used to build credibility and accelerate SME access to international markets.
On financial inclusion, Koko Tech, part of Daraz Group, has agreed with Ignite to introduce a Buy Now, Pay Later solution operating as an NBFC, with a planned US$3 million investment to expand digital payment services and create local jobs. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the collaboration’s potential to advance digital inclusion, empower youth, modernise agriculture and digitise the financial sector, while Alibaba’s Joe Tsai emphasised the role of AI, cloud and embodied intelligence in improving healthcare outcomes and opening global markets for Pakistani businesses.
The Pakistan AI partnership and its accompanying initiatives aim to combine technology transfer, skills development and market access to accelerate economic growth and inclusion, positioning Pakistani SMEs and public services to benefit from AI, cloud computing and new digital finance solutions over the coming years.
