Pakistan targets US public-sector technology market to boost tech exports

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Pakistan is seeking to expand its technology exports by helping local companies compete for contracts in the United States’ $1.5 trillion state, local and education (SLED) procurement market, Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said on Wednesday._x000D_
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Addressing the closing ceremony of a government-supported training programme for Pakistani technology companies in Islamabad, the minister said the initiative is designed to improve Pakistan’s access to one of the world’s largest public-sector technology markets._x000D_
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“The United States already is our largest export partner. Sixty-two percent of our exports are to the United States when you talk about tech exports, and the new initiative would help Pakistani technology companies accelerate export growth in the US market,” she said._x000D_
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“The US being the largest market that we have in terms of our tech trade, I think this particular project will help us accelerate our export growth in the US,” she added._x000D_
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The US SLED market includes procurement by state governments, municipalities, public school districts, colleges and universities, covering spending on software, cybersecurity, cloud services, artificial intelligence and other digital technologies by nearly 90,000 government agencies and educational institutions._x000D_
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Highlighting the scale of the opportunity, the minister said, “Opening of market to about 90,000 buyers… over $1.5 trillion, this is an economy, this is a market that is straight up open for you.”_x000D_
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Shaza Fatima said the government trained 74 Pakistani technology companies under a pilot program to help them compete for contracts in the US SLED market, adding that it invested approximately Rs6-7 million, or about $25,000, in the initiative._x000D_
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She said the program has already started producing early commercial results and emphasized that future government support for technology training initiatives would be linked to measurable outcomes._x000D_
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According to the minister, publicly funded technology programs will now be evaluated based on contracts secured, revenue generated and jobs created._x000D_
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She added that independent tracer studies would be conducted six months after the completion of such programs to determine whether participants had secured employment, launched businesses or won commercial contracts.