The federal government has decided to extend the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme to Gilgit-Baltistan, with plans to enroll between 500 and 1,000 young people from the region in internationally recognised technology training programmes covering information technology, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. The decision emerged from a meeting held in Islamabad between Ghulam Abbas and Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, during which the expansion of the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission and Huawei Prime Minister’s Youth Skill Development Programme to Gilgit-Baltistan was formally deliberated and discussed.
During the meeting, Ghulam Abbas submitted a formal request accompanied by detailed proposals for the programme’s expansion into the region. He noted that young people in Gilgit-Baltistan possess strong potential in emerging technologies but have historically faced limited access to quality training due to geographical constraints and a lack of established institutional infrastructure for advanced digital skills development. Against this backdrop, he proposed that at least 500 to 1,000 youths from the region be enrolled in Huawei-certified international training programmes over the coming 12 months, with the specific aim of improving their employability in global digital and technology markets. Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan assured that Gilgit-Baltistan holds special importance for the Prime Minister and that all initiatives under the youth skill development programme would be extended to the region on a priority basis, signalling a clear intent to ensure that the benefits of Pakistan’s growing digital economy agenda reach communities that have previously been underserved by national skills development investments.
Beyond the immediate enrolment targets, the meeting also deliberated on the establishment of a dedicated Gilgit-Baltistan High-Tech Digital Skills Programme, a longer-term initiative aimed at training more than 2,500 young people in internationally recognised information technology and digital skills over a three-year period. The proposed programme would represent a significant and sustained investment in building a technology-capable workforce within one of Pakistan’s most geographically isolated regions, creating pathways to employment in global digital markets for youth who currently have limited access to the training infrastructure available in larger urban centres. The development aligns with the federal government’s broader ambition, articulated earlier this year, to extend artificial intelligence education and digital skills training to Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and remote areas of Balochistan as part of a nationally inclusive approach to technology-led economic growth.
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