Pakistan aims to train one million AI professionals by 2030, Ahsan Iqbal says

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said Pakistan aims to develop one million artificial intelligence professionals by 2030, setting out the target at a Pakistan–Russia IT collaboration forum in Islamabad on Thursday.

The event, organised by the Pakistan Software Export Board with Moscow’s University of World Civilizations, brought the two countries’ technology industries face to face. Iqbal told the forum that technology had become the main driver of Pakistan’s economic transformation and urged companies on both sides to turn handshakes into contracts, joint ventures and products that can compete in world markets.

A restated target, not a new one

The one-million figure is not new. It was written into Pakistan’s first National AI Policy, approved by the cabinet in July 2025. The policy also promises 3,000 scholarships every year, 1,000 AI products built in Pakistan and 50,000 public projects run on AI. What neither the minister nor the official accounts gave on Thursday was a timetable — no annual milestones, and no figure for how many professionals have been trained so far.

Seven new AI centres

Iqbal said seven new AI centres would link research, skills development, startups and industry. Pakistan produces more than 75,000 IT graduates a year, he said, and that young workforce is the country’s biggest asset.

Where Russia fits in

Recent business-to-business sessions organised by the Pakistan Software Export Board and P@SHA saw five Russian companies hold 16 meetings with 11 Pakistani firms. The two sides are looking at automation and enterprise software for industry, digital supply chains for agriculture, secure digital systems for trade, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, digital governance and quantum computing. Russia’s Deputy Minister for Digital Development, Bella Cherkesova, addressed the forum from Moscow.

Trade between the two countries tells its own story. It jumped to $1.81 billion in FY24 on discounted Russian crude, then collapsed to about $243 million in FY25 as payment channels, banking links and shipping became obstacles. Iqbal acknowledged that payment and settlement mechanisms remain a practical problem.

The wider plan

E-Pakistan is one of the five pillars of the National Economic Transformation Plan, known as URAAN Pakistan, which aims to build a trillion-dollar economy by 2035. Pakistan’s IT exports reached a record $4.6 billion in FY26, up about 21 percent, with a target of $10 billion by FY29.

The real question: pace

One million professionals in four years means training 250,000 people a year. The minister’s own figure for annual IT graduates is just over 75,000. That gap — between the target and the current pipeline — is what will decide whether the announcement becomes a plan or remains another promise.