Pakistani PM Announces $1B Investment in Artificial Intelligence by 2030

Announces 1,000 Fully Funded PhD Scholarships in AI

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday announced the government’s plan to invest $1 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) by 2030 to build a future-ready digital economy and empower the country’s youth.

The development comes a day after Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim discussed investments and tech talent collaboration between Islamabad and Riyadh.

The Indus AI Week 2026 is being held from February 9 to 15 (Sunday). The event’s website describes it as “Pakistan’s official national platform for artificial intelligence — where policy, innovation, talent and investment converge”.

Speaking at inauguration ceremony of the event, the premier noted that the Indus AI Week is “going to not only change the technological landscape of Pakistan, but this will be nothing short of a game-changer”.

“In collaboration with our most friendly and brotherly countries, we will start running on this shared pathway with great commitment and enthusiasm,” he added.

He said: “The government of Pakistan is committed to investing $1 billion in AI by 2030, which will go a long way in building an AI ecosystem in our country.”

Announcing further steps to align with modern technologies, PM Shehbaz said an AI curriculum will be introduced “not only in all federally controlled schools but in all schools” across Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

He emphasised that the plan would be implemented in remote parts of Balochistan as well to “pair our youth for leadership and digital economy”.

The PM further said the government would provide 1,000 fully-funded PHD scholarships in AI to students across the country by 2030, which is aimed at building Pakistan’s “world-class research centre fully capacitated”.

“Last but not least, we will launch a nationwide programme to train 1 million non-IT professionals in AI skills, enabling them to enhance productivity and improving livelihoods,” he added.

“Pakistan is absolutely ready to accept the challenge and walk with our global partners, absolutely with great commitment and dedication,” PM Shehbaz affirmed.

He elaborated that agriculture and mines and minerals would be among the areas of focus, adding that the government aimed to empower the youth, which he said comprises 60 per cent of the country’s total population.

“We have to empower them with modern knowledge and modern techniques, and IT startups and IT technicians are already very concerned and feeling the heat and the challenge,” he noted, assuring them the government would bring programmes to “transform them from IT technicians to AI experts”.

He added this would unlock unprecedented gains in agricultural yield, quality and efficiency, as well as in industrial growth and women’s empowerment.

PM Shehbaz also mentioned the digitalisation process of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), saying it was “almost transformed” at this point. He said: “It’s doing a great job. We have controlled smuggling in Pakistan through various, most modern initiatives, bringing in scanners and other digital instruments which have been installed at various ports of Pakistan. “We are recovering lost sums of money [and] tax evaded through collusion through these platforms.”

“Our commitment is solid, unwavering. We will never look back, we will keep on moving forward, marching forward till a point will soon come one day when Pakistan will find its destiny among the comity of nations.”

Addressing the event, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said Indus AI Week aimed to strengthen coordination between universities, governments and international companies.

She noted that the Pakistan Digital Authority was preparing a nationwide digital master plan to guide future transformation.

In his remarks, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal highlighted that the world had entered a moment where intelligence itself had become a factor of production, with nations competing on ideas, talent, data and technology rather than commodities. He described AI as a bigger “disruptor” than electricity or the internet.