Agreement Signed At PM House Reception Hosted By Shehbaz Sharif; 150,000 Google Career Certificates Targeted For 2026. FBR Digitisation To Use AI, Agriculture Crop Monitoring Via AI, Task Force On IT Exports, $30 Billion IT Export Target By 2030
According to Dawn, Pakistan and Google signed a memorandum of understanding on August 21, 2026, at a reception hosted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at PM House, committing both sides to promote national digital transformation and innovation across multiple sectors.
Under the agreement, Pakistani students will receive free access for one year to Google’s advanced AI tools; including Google AI Plus and Gemini. Google will also expand its Career Certificates programme in Pakistan, targeting 150,000 certificates in 2026. The two sides agreed to establish an AI Centre of Excellence in Islamabad to train Pakistani youth and human resources for the global market.
Beyond education, the MoU covers AI applications in public service delivery, FBR digitisation using AI-powered data analytics, agricultural crop monitoring and forecasting, support for SMEs through digital platforms, mobile applications and gaming industry competitiveness, and the promotion of digital payments and e-commerce.
A joint task force comprising the government, Google and relevant stakeholders will develop a roadmap to identify barriers to IT exports and opportunities for growth. The PMO said the cooperation marks progress towards PM Shehbaz’s vision of reaching $30 billion in IT exports and digital economy revenues by 2030.
The MoU follows Google opening its first local office in Karachi on Tuesday, and a $500,000 Digital Pasban initiative announced Thursday to equip 200,000 Pakistani households with digital safety tools in Urdu.
Free tools are a beginning. The $30 billion target is the test.
Check out our previous coverage of Pakistan’s digital economy on The Trusted Times.
