Dubai — Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to deepen cooperation in artificial intelligence, digital governance, data innovation, and cybersecurity following a high-level meeting between Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for IT and Telecom, and Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary at the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology. The meeting took place on the sidelines of GITEX Global 2025, one of the world’s largest technology exhibitions.
Running from October 13–17 in Dubai, GITEX 2025 features over 6,500 companies from 180 countries, drawing nearly 200,000 technology professionals. Pakistan’s National Pavilion, inaugurated by Minister Khawaja, includes 10 startups and 26 technology firms, showcasing the country’s growing innovation ecosystem and commitment to regional collaboration.
“Pakistan’s Digital Nation vision seeks to position the country as a regional hub for innovation and public-sector digitization through smart governance and AI adoption,” Khawaja stated, emphasizing the Digital Nation Pakistan Act, National Data Exchange Layer, and efforts toward a cashless economy.
Both sides agreed to enhance collaboration in advanced technologies, data sovereignty, and cross-border startup investments. The discussions also covered frameworks for cyber-resilience, cloud governance, and AI-enabled infrastructure, reinforcing the shared commitment to secure and sustainable digital transformation.
In a separate meeting, Khawaja met Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Cybersecurity Council, to advance joint efforts in cloud infrastructure security and cyber capacity-building. Additional sessions with Abu Dhabi’s G42 Cloud Group and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office explored partnerships on sovereign cloud infrastructure and AI innovation hubs.
The minister also held talks with Romania’s Ministry of Economy to build institutional linkages between Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (PKCERT) and Romania’s DNSC, and with AI leaders such as Liquid AI and Cerebras Systems on skill development and access to advanced compute infrastructure aligned with Pakistan’s National AI Policy 2025.
Pakistan’s growing presence at GITEX reflects its rising stature in the regional digital economy, supported by increasing IT exports to the UAE, which reached $380 million in 2025, up from $280 million in 2024, according to Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi.
