Pakistan and Russia push IT cooperation toward pilot projects

Pakistan and Russia put software companies and trade bodies from both countries in the same room in Islamabad, in a government-backed push to turn a technology dialogue into commercial contracts.

The third Pakistan-Russia IT Collaboration Webinar was hosted by the Pakistan Software Export Board, which sits under the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, and the University of World Civilizations Moscow. It was held at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, with Russian speakers joining from Moscow, under the theme "Building Technology Partnerships, Market Access, and Joint Solutions."

Organisers kept the gathering small. A selected group of companies and associations from both sides was asked to set out what it could offer and what it needed, rather than sit through a general conference.

Discussions covered artificial intelligence and cloud computing, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection, digital governance and public digital infrastructure, trade, investment and business-to-business links, IT and IT-enabled services, digital skills and workforce exchange, and quantum computing.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, the chief guest, said technology had become a main driver of Pakistan's economy. He said E-Pakistan is one of five pillars of the government's economic transformation plan, which targets a $1 trillion economy by 2035. He cited more than 75,000 IT graduates a year, a target of one million AI professionals by 2030 and seven new AI centres, along with NADRA's digital identity system and the Raast payment system, which he said processed 646 million transactions in a single quarter.

Iqbal said Russia's scientific and engineering base, combined with Pakistan's workforce and delivery record, could support joint work in AI, cloud, cybersecurity and digital governance. He called on firms to pursue joint ventures, market access and pilot projects, and said the initiative would be judged on trade, investment, innovation and employment.

ARY News reported that Pakistan's IT and telecom exports reached a record $4.6 billion in FY2025-26, about 20 percent higher than the year before.

Russia's deputy minister of digital development, communications and mass media, Bella Cherkesova, gave the keynote from the Russian side on 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 the mission in Moscow would work with PSEB to open the Russian market to Pakistani companies.

PSEB chief executive Faisal Jeddy set out a four-step route: define the opportunity, match suitable firms, agree a pilot and name focal persons on both sides. "Partnerships rarely fail for lack of intent; they fail for lack of follow-up," he said.

According to ARY News, the webinar produced a shortlist of opportunities and matched companies rather than signed agreements. Industry sessions, moderated by Dr Roxolana Zigon of UWCM and Shahbaz Hameed of PSEB, heard from RUSSOFT president Valentin Makarov, PASHA chairman Dr Shoaib Ahmed Khan, Ebryx chief executive Ahrar Naqvi, Positive Technologies regional chief executive Yegor Rykov, TMC group chief executive Abdul Haseeb, Russian Quantum Center director Dr Alexey Akimov and Dr Irina Serenko.

IT secretary Zarrar Hasham Khan said in closing remarks that the day had produced a shortlist of opportunities in cybersecurity, enterprise software, AI and cloud, and that the ministry would work to remove friction over market intelligence and regulation and review progress regularly.