A Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITeS (PASHA) delegation, led by CEC Member Nadia Iqbal and joined by representatives from member companies SheDev Private Limited and IdeoMetriX, called on Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Amjad Hussain Azar at the Chief Minister Secretariat, marking the first formal engagement between Pakistan’s IT industry association and the new GB government. The meeting brought together PASHA’s private sector perspective with a provincial administration that took office only a few months earlier, giving the association an early opportunity to shape how the region’s digital economy priorities get framed under the new government. According to PASHA, the discussion was substantive rather than ceremonial, touching on the most pressing structural challenges facing GB’s IT sector rather than functioning as a simple courtesy visit.
The Chief Minister acknowledged PASHA’s existing work in the region and identified internet connectivity as the most urgent challenge facing GB’s IT sector, pointing to satellite connectivity as a practical option given the area’s difficult terrain and dispersed population centres. He called on PASHA to work alongside the GB government and lobby at the federal level to help build the case for support on this front, positioning the association as a bridge between the province’s specific infrastructure needs and federal decision makers who control funding and regulatory approvals for satellite based connectivity solutions. Azar also shared that the GB government has allocated Rs 4 billion for IT sector development and sought federal level advisory and technical support to ensure that spending actually strengthens local companies, the broader ecosystem, and digital infrastructure rather than being absorbed by generic procurement processes without lasting local impact.
During the meeting, the delegation presented the PASHA GB IT Industry Diagnostic Report 2025, a short, medium, and long term roadmap that has already been shared with the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication and the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), which the Chief Minister undertook to review following the meeting. The report’s prior circulation among federal stakeholders suggests PASHA has been working to build consensus around its GB specific recommendations across multiple levels of government, rather than presenting the diagnostic for the first time to the provincial administration. Bringing the report directly to the new Chief Minister gives PASHA a chance to secure buy in from the provincial government itself, potentially aligning federal and provincial priorities around the same set of recommendations for the region’s IT sector.
PASHA described the dialogue as open and forward thinking, framing the meeting as part of its broader mandate to connect Gilgit-Baltistan’s companies and young talent to the national IT ecosystem, alongside its representation of the industry across the rest of the country. The association said it looks forward to working with the GB government specifically on connectivity, advisory support tied to the Rs 4 billion IT allocation, and implementation of the Diagnostic Report’s recommendations, framing the meeting as a starting point for sustained collaboration rather than a one off engagement. Whether this translates into concrete progress on satellite connectivity or the effective deployment of the province’s IT development budget will likely depend on how quickly federal and provincial stakeholders act on the recommendations PASHA has already circulated through the diagnostic report.
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