Shaza Fatima says digital infrastructure, policy reforms and AI strategy can accelerate Pakistan’s economic transformation
Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja has said Pakistan is building the foundations of a digital nation to create wealth, strengthen economic independence and accelerate development.
Addressing the LEAP 2026 conference on “How We Built a Digital Nation”, she said Pakistan was developing its national digital stack using open-source technology and planned to share it free of cost with frontier and emerging nations once completed.
The minister said the government had shifted away from “fancy big projects” towards building strong digital foundations. Over the past two years, Pakistan had introduced legislation including the Digital Nation Pakistan Act and National AI Policy, alongside reforms aimed at strengthening connectivity and the technology ecosystem.
She identified digital connectivity, policy continuity and business competitiveness as three major challenges facing Pakistan’s technology sector.
On connectivity, Shaza said spectrum availability had previously been a major bottleneck. Pakistan had now conducted what she described as the world’s largest spectrum auction, offering 480 megahertz. She also highlighted the landing of two new submarine cables, fibre reforms and an almost 100 per cent increase in house passes.
She credited the Special Investment Facilitation Council with helping provide policy continuity and said special technology zones had been established with tax-free status for 10 years to support technology companies.
Pakistan was also working on international payment gateways for young people and expanding sovereign computing, she added.
Shaza said digital transformation had become a government-wide priority, with ministries increasingly recognising technology as an enabling sector rather than a standalone area.
She said countries seeking to accelerate development needed to become digital nations, describing digital transformation as the “single greatest intervention” a government could make to secure its future.
The minister outlined five lessons from Pakistan’s experience: governments should create laws and policies rather than software; countries need dedicated GovTech agencies; implementation requires measurable targets and discipline; governments should “build rails, not products”; and nations must cooperate rather than work in silos.
Pakistan’s Digital Nation Master Plan is designed around interoperability, trust and security. Shaza said the country’s large population and young demographic represented a significant investment opportunity, adding that digital public infrastructure and ecosystem investment could support double-digit digital growth.