Dr. Umar Saif, Pakistan’s acting IT minister, is optimistic about Pakistan’s ability to gain from Saudi Arabia’s impressive development. This optimistic attitude follows the signing of numerous Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between Islamabad and Riyadh that are intended to improve IT collaboration between the two countries.
Presently in Saudi Arabia is a group of 15 eminent Pakistani IT businesses managed by Dr. Saif. They signed agreements intended to hasten digital transformation, encourage innovation, and enhance digital infrastructure during their visit. These agreements also seek to improve startup and small- and medium-sized business assistance systems, as well as to promote business and information sharing about accelerators and incubators.
Dr. Saif emphasized the significant prospects for Pakistan in Saudi Arabia and the positive response they received from a variety of Saudi stakeholders, including the ministers of information technology and investment as well as digital enterprises.
Under the direction of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has been actively pursuing its Vision 2030 economic strategy. This has attracted significant investments, including those from significant US IT companies like Microsoft and Oracle Corp. These investments are made in emerging technologies, such as cloud computing infrastructure.
Dr. Saif emphasized that Pakistan could contribute to this rapid development by giving Saudi Arabia the technical expertise and IT solutions they need. He urged Pakistan to take advantage of this chance to involve its IT businesses and take part in Saudi Arabia’s remarkable growth narrative.
In addition to e-governance, smart infrastructure, e-health, e-education, and new technologies like AI, IoT, robotics, cloud computing, e-gaming, and blockchain, the two nations are working together in a variety of areas.
As a member of the visiting team, Muhammad Zohaib Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), mentioned that Saudi Arabia has agreed to set up a specific desk to facilitate Pakistani IT businesses doing business in the Kingdom. This achievement, which is considered an important result of the trip, is anticipated to make it easier for Pakistani and Saudi businesses to communicate and work together, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
