At the WTDC high-level plenary session in Baku on 17 November, Federal Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja presented Pakistan’s policy statement, placing Connect Pakistan at the centre of the country\u2019s digital strategy. The minister highlighted that universal, meaningful and affordable connectivity is a core pillar of the Connect Pakistan 2030 vision and described connectivity as more than a convenience: it is a lifeline.<\/p>\n
Shaza Fatima Khawaja underlined how the Digital Nation Pakistan Act, enacted under the Prime Minister\u2019s leadership, is modernising public systems and accelerating digital transformation across government services. She pointed to advances in e-governance, strengthened cybersecurity and citizen-focused services, alongside smart city applications and modern IoT networks, as concrete examples of progress driven by Connect Pakistan.<\/p>\n
The minister emphasised digital inclusion as a central engine for sustainable development, noting significant initiatives to boost women\u2019s digital participation, AI skills training and the growth of women-led startups. Pakistan\u2019s ambition to become a regional hub for AI and cloud, and to shape AI governance rather than merely follow it, was presented as a strategic priority in the Connect Pakistan roadmap.<\/p>\n
Concrete 2030 targets were reiterated, including nationwide average speeds of 100 Mbps<\/strong>, fibre connectivity to 10 million homes<\/strong>, and positioning Pakistan as a regional centre for AI and cloud services. Khawaja appealed to international partners and the private sector to increase investment in digital infrastructure, saying that Pakistan is ready to lead digital cooperation across the Global South.<\/p>\n Economic data shared alongside the policy statement underlined the ICT sector\u2019s growing weight in the national economy. ICT export remittances recorded a 19.5%<\/strong> increase, reaching a four-month high of US$ 1.443 billion<\/strong> from July to October FY2025\u201326, with October alone contributing US$ 386 million<\/strong>, up 17%<\/strong> year-on-year. The IT & ITeS industry posted a trade surplus of US$ 1.274 billion<\/strong>, making ICT the top-performing services sector in Pakistan.<\/p>\n Khaja concluded by stressing that a sustainable digital future depends on closing the gaps in access, usage and affordability together. The Connect Pakistan agenda, she said, combines policy, investment and inclusive programmes to ensure that connectivity delivers social and economic impact across Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At WTDC, Pakistan outlined Connect Pakistan goals \u2014 calling for investment to expand affordable connectivity and boost ICT exports and inclusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":14232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}