Pakistan denounces five-year ban on two Kashmiri organizations

KARACHI: A Pakistani tech entrepreneur who represented her country at the recent International Digital Cooperation Forum (IDCF) in Jordan said this week the event served as a crucial platform for highlighting Pakistan’s progress in artificial intelligence (AI), attracting potential investors and facilitating foreign direct investment (FDI), especially from the Middle East.

Mehwish Salman Ali, born and raised in Karachi, earned a degree in genetics from the University of Karachi in 2007. However, due to limited job opportunities in the field, she shifted gears and entered Pakistan’s information technology sector in 2008.

After gaining four years of experience, she got married and moved to Dubai in 2012 and launched her own company, 3wOgle Group of Companies, providing web-based IT services and solutions. Since then, Ali has primarily operated in the Middle Eastern market, though she has remained engaged in Pakistan, where she established the country’s first woman-led solar-powered quantum-encrypted data center, Data Vault, specializing in AI systems designed to operate autonomously.

Ali said she was thrilled to represent Pakistan at the IDCF in Jordan alongside the country’s Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja, which allowed her to discuss future possibilities with leading figures in the global AI industry.

“One of the propositions I raised there was borderless technology,” she told Arab News during a conversation on Monday. “When it comes to the AI space, everything is broad spectrum. When we work toward borderless technology, that’s what can bridge the gap between us and the investors.”

“CRAZY AMOUNTS”

AI is predicted to significantly boost the global economy primarily through increased productivity and new consumption opportunities, while also impacting employment and requiring strategic adaptation. 

Ali said AI was estimated to contribute about $15.7 trillion to the world economy by 2030 — more than the current output of China and India combined — and Pakistan’s ambition to raise up to $20 billion from it was almost negligible in that context.

Asked how that number could be increased, Ali said it was important to adopt more AI-friendly policies, something she also highlighted at the conference in Jordan.

“It was a very big market to project what Pakistan is doing in the AI space and to invite investors into our country and to basically pave ways for foreign direct investment as well,” she said, referring to the IDCF event.

Ali said IT was one of the best options available to help Pakistan achieve its target of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2035.

She said that she decided to spend time in Riyadh in 2022 since it was an emerging advanced technology market but had now decided to move back to Pakistan to help expand the AI space and prepare “good solutions” for the Gulf market.

“The Middle East is spending crazy amounts in the AI space, be it the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar or others,” she added. “They are spending billions of dollars, specifically in the AI space, and all they need are good solutions.”

But Pakistani firms in the field needed to understand the broader market dynamics.

“When startups from Pakistan go [to the Middle East] and pitch their ideas, they are asking [for] very small amounts,” she said. “They are asking for $100,000 or $200,000 [even when] they want to invest in a bigger vision.”

Ali has recently been inducted as an official member of the Forbes Technology Council, which had only four Pakistani members, with Ali the only woman among them. She has also recently announced the launch of an AI innovation lab in Pakistan.

“It may become a center of excellence for AI and that is very big news,” the IT executive said. “We are in talks with a few people and a few investors who are going to help in achieving that dream.”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan applauded the European Union’s decision to support the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reconstruction plan for Gaza at the United Nations on Tuesday, calling such multilateral cooperation “critical” at a difficult time in international politics.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, made the remarks as he welcomed the EU’s engagement with the UN, from its continued support for the world body’s annual budget to its sustained commitment to peacekeeping operations and peace-building activities.
Arab leaders unanimously rejected US President Donald Trump’s plan to permanently uproot more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and turn the region into an international beach resort earlier this month. Instead, they backed an Egyptian-led reconstruction initiative worth $53 billion, which was later upheld by the OIC in a special session held in Jeddah.
“In a statement in the Security Council meeting on the EU’s engagement with the UN today, Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative, lauded the EU for its humanitarian support to the suffering people of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as its support to UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees],” said an official statement circulated after the meeting.
“He said that Pakistan also welcomes the EU’s support to the Arab and now the OIC plan for reconstruction of Gaza and peace in Palestine based on the Two-State solution.”
The Pakistani diplomat said his country wanted all conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, to be resolved in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter, which he said must be applied universally and consistently.
“At a time when international development cooperation is under immense stress, the EU’s sustained support, including to UN agencies, funds and programs, will be critical,” Akram was quoted as saying in the statement.
He also highlighted Pakistan’s relations with the EU, describing them as “robust, comprehensive and wide-ranging.” The EU, as a unit, remains Pakistan’s largest trade and investment partner, he noted.
“The GSP [Generalized Scheme of Preferences] Plus has played an important role in the growth of Pakistan-EU trade and has served as a win-win model for economic cooperation,” he said, referring to the preferential trade arrangement that has boosted Pakistan’s exports to Europe.
Akram also welcomed EU investments under the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy in renewable energy, digital infrastructure, education, water and sanitation and disaster management, and expressed hope for further opportunities through the Horizon Europe Program.
“We must all together reaffirm our commitment to international law, equality and a global order underpinned by the UN Charter to promote durable peace, sustainable development and inclusive growth,” the Pakistani envoy said.