Pakistan and Russia have drawn up a shortlist of concrete IT opportunities in cybersecurity, enterprise software, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing, with companies on both sides ready to pursue pilot projects. The shortlist came out of the Pakistan-Russia IT Collaboration Webinar, the third in a series of webinars, organised by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) with the University of World Civilizations Moscow (UWCM). The event was held at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives in Islamabad, with Russian speakers joining from Moscow, under the theme Building Technology Partnerships, Market Access and Joint Solutions. It was a focused meeting, and each company was asked to bring specific capabilities and business needs.
Talks covered six areas: AI and cloud computing, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection, digital governance and digital public infrastructure, trade and investment in IT and IT-enabled services, digital skills and workforce exchange, and quantum computing. Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, the chief guest, said technology has become a key driver of the economy and that E-Pakistan is one of the five pillars of the URAAN Pakistan plan, which aims to build a $1 trillion economy by 2035. He pointed to more than 75,000 IT graduates a year, the target of developing one million AI professionals by 2030, and seven new AI centres. He said NADRA’s digital identity system is internationally recognised and that the Raast payment system processed 646 million transactions in one quarter. The minister urged companies from both countries to pursue joint ventures, pilot projects, and products, and said the initiative’s success would be judged by trade, investment, innovation, and jobs.
Russia’s Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, Bella Cherkesova, gave the keynote from Moscow on the digital partnership, covering policy, investment, and emerging technologies. Pakistan’s Ambassador to Russia, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, said relations had entered a more mature and multidimensional phase and that digital trade could become a new pillar of the economic partnership. PSEB Chief Executive Officer Faisal Jeddy presented a framework that runs from first contact to first contract, in which the opportunity is defined, the right companies are matched, a pilot is agreed, and focal persons are named on both sides. He said partnerships rarely fail for lack of intent and more often for lack of follow-up, and that PSEB will stay with each company until the conversations become contracts.
The industry sessions then turned the framework into specific proposals. In the first, RUSSOFT President Valentin Makarov and P@SHA Chairman Dr Shoaib Ahmed Khan discussed linking the two software industries through structured partnerships and joint delivery. In the second, Ebryx chief executive Ahrar Naqvi, Positive Technologies Regional CEO Yegor Rykov, TMC Group chief executive Abdul Haseeb, and Russian Quantum Center Director Dr Alexey Akimov explored co-development in cybersecurity, enterprise software, fintech, AI, and cloud, with delivery in Pakistan, Russia, and third-country markets. IT and Telecommunication Secretary Zarrar Hasham Khan said the ministry’s role now is to remove friction, from market intelligence to regulatory facilitation and visibility for Pakistani firms in Russia, so that pilots can start quickly. The report does not name the pilot projects, give their value, or set dates, so the results will depend on follow-up between the companies and PSEB.
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