Pakistan and Google signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to advance the country’s digital transformation, an agreement that includes a year of free access to the tech giant’s advanced AI tools for students across the country.
The deal was finalized at a reception hosted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the Google team at the Prime Minister’s House, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Under its terms, the two sides will deepen cooperation across digital skills training, IT exports, and innovation.
As part of the agreement, Google and Pakistan plan to scale up the Google Career Certificates programme, with the company targeting 150,000 certificates issued in Pakistan during 2026 alone. Students will also gain a year of complimentary access to Google’s premium AI offerings, including Google AI Plus and Gemini, the PMO said.
The two parties additionally agreed to jointly establish an AI centre of excellence in Islamabad, which the PMO said would train Pakistani youth and workers in skills aligned with global market demand. Further cooperation will target boosting the international competitiveness of Pakistan’s mobile app and gaming sectors, expanding digital payments, and growing the country’s digital commerce footprint.
On the public sector side, the partnership will explore using AI to streamline government service delivery and improve efficiency, with AI-driven data analytics set to feature in the Federal Board of Revenue’s ongoing digitisation drive. The two sides also agreed to apply AI to agriculture, supporting crop monitoring, forecasting, and sustainable farming practices, while using digital platforms to help small and medium-sized enterprises reach international markets.
A joint task force, comprising government officials, Google representatives, and other stakeholders, will be formed to map out a strategy for boosting Pakistan’s IT exports and competitiveness, tasked specifically with identifying obstacles to export growth and areas of opportunity, according to the PMO.
Officials framed the agreement as a meaningful step toward Prime Minister Sharif’s target of growing Pakistan’s IT exports and digital economy to $30 billion by 2030, describing the partnership as laying the groundwork for “a new era of digital transformation and innovation in Pakistan.”
The announcement follows a separate move by Google on Thursday, when the company unveiled a $500,000 investment aimed at helping Pakistani families use the internet more safely. The funding, channelled through Google.org, will support the “Digital Pasban” initiative, which plans to reach 200,000 households with Urdu-language safety resources, instructional videos, and parental workshops.
Both announcements reflect Google’s broader commitment to building a long-term presence in Pakistan, following the opening of its first local office in Karachi earlier this week, nearly four years after the company originally registered in the country, a move Google described as a major milestone in its Pakistan operations.
