The government, working with Huawei and other partners, has announced plans to train about one million young people in diverse IT skills to strengthen Pakistan’s digital economy and improve job prospects.
An official from the Ministry said the potential economic impact could be enormous. “If even one million youth earn an average of $10,000 annually, the outcome for the economy would be massive,” he noted.
According to the official, skills training is central to the Prime Minister’s agenda. Last year, around 350,000 young people completed training programmes, while another 300,000 are currently enrolled in advanced skills courses. From December, an additional 300,000 will begin training.
He pointed out that the IT and telecom sector was witnessing rapid progress in exports, digital transformation and employability initiatives. Pakistan’s IT exports have nearly doubled, with inflows reaching $3.8 billion. A major portion of this came through remittances, which increased sharply from $400 million last year to about $700 million this year.
To support the sector, the Pakistan Digital Authority has been established. Once its governing body is formally constituted, it will hold its first meeting. The authority is preparing a comprehensive national digital transmission map, to be followed by sectoral transformation plans for agriculture, health and education. These plans will be handed over to the relevant ministries with implementation support.
