Pakistan has taken another step toward developing its next satellite programme after the Central Development Working Party recommended the Rs. 37.19 billion PakSat-2 project to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council for further consideration. The project was among seven development schemes reviewed by CDWP under the government’s Uraan Pakistan development agenda, with Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal describing the strengthening of the country’s space programme as an important part of the broader initiative.
Alongside the satellite project, CDWP approved a separate Rs. 3.62 billion scheme to establish a Geo-AI Development and Innovation Hub, a facility intended to strengthen the country’s geospatial capabilities while promoting broader innovation within the sector. This approval reflects growing government interest in combining artificial intelligence applications with geospatial data and mapping capabilities, an area that has become increasingly relevant across sectors ranging from urban planning to disaster management. In the higher education space, the forum also approved a revised plan for establishing the Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad Khan Center in Basic Sciences, a project that had originally received approval back in 2018 but could not move forward due to land related complications. The Planning Minister directed officials to revise the center’s scope to cover emerging areas of study and bring its overall cost in line with current requirements, noting that eight years had already passed since the project’s original approval.
Beyond this specific project, the minister also asked the Higher Education Commission to identify universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan where similar research centers could potentially be established, suggesting an interest in expanding this kind of specialized academic infrastructure beyond a single location. He further called for laboratories at five engineering universities to be upgraded, while stressing that universities more broadly should contribute further toward innovation and toward converting research output into practical commercial applications, a recurring theme in discussions about strengthening links between academic research and industry needs in Pakistan.
In addition to the technology and education related schemes, CDWP separately approved a Rs. 5.01 billion project focused on commercial scale olive cultivation, an initiative that will expand olive plantations across Balochistan and the newly merged districts while also assessing the Potohar region for its cultivation potential, with the government setting a broader target of developing one million acres of olive plantations under this initiative. The forum also approved Rs. 338.2 million to upgrade the high frequency radio network used by WAPDA’s Water Resources Management Directorate. Of the seven total projects reviewed during the session, five schemes worth a combined Rs. 21.59 billion received direct approval from CDWP, while two larger projects with a combined cost of Rs. 94.3 billion, including the PakSat-2 satellite programme, were forwarded to ECNEC for further review and final decision making.
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