Unprecedented Boom in Pakistan's Technology Sector

Pakistan's technology sector is in the midst of an unprecedented boom. It is being fueled by the country's growing human capital and rising investments in technology startups. A recent tweet by Swedish fund manager Mattias Martinsson captured it well when he wrote, "Have followed Pakistan for 15 years. Can't recall any time time when VC activity was anywhere near we've seen in the last few months. Impact of reforms kicking in?".  New laws have made it easier to create startups and offered greater protection to investors.  Digital infrastructure has expanded with over 100 million smartphones and an equal number of broadband subscriptions. 

Source: Twitter

Pakistan is churning out more than 30,000 information technology graduates every year. Over three-quarters of Pakistanis in the top three metros of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad are regularly using the internet. Technology startups are on track to attract more than $230 million in venture capital investments this year, almost 5 times greater than vc investments last year. Technology exports are increasing by double digits every year, reaching $2.1 billion in the fiscal year that ended in June 2021.  Pakistani freelancers' revenue grew 47% last year, the highest growth in Asia and the fourth highest in the world. 

Over Half of All Pakistanis Are Connected to the Internet. Source: Google-Kantar

Pakistan has seen a phenomenal growth of 3500% in broadband subscriptions over the last 8 years . Pakistanis now own more than 103 million smartphones with mobile broadband subscriptions. In a Youtube presentation of the report, Faraz Azhar, Industry Head, Performance, South Asia Frontier Markets, Google said: “With half of its population on the internet - Pakistan is now online!"  

Pakistan's Middle Class Growth Among World's Fastest

Google Search and YouTube are the most popular Internet applications in Pakistan, according to the study. YouTube is used by nearly 90% of all internet users in Pakistan for streaming music and watching video/TV, and 38% of Pakistan's internet users go to YouTube in the research phase of their shopping journey. 

Pakistan has also experienced an e-commerce boom in the midst of the COVID pandemic. 71% of Pakistani shoppers find purchasing products or services online easy, while 66% find it convenient. Another 54%  find that online shopping websites or apps give personalized product recommendations, which answer common questions. Two-thirds of consumers believe that online shopping is the way forward. They say they will continue to buy products or services online after the COVID-19 pandemic.    

Faraz Azhar, Industry Head, Performance, South Asia Frontier Markets, Google said: “With half of its population on the internet - Pakistan is now online! This is the first time Google and Kantar released a study to understand more about Pakistan’s internet population. But it’s not only about people getting online, this research has uncovered new insights and behaviors that show how COVID is impacting online behaviour and the digital opportunities waiting to be unlocked.” 

Global Investors of Pakistani Startups. Source: Google-Kantar

"More people are coming online in Pakistan, creating a great opportunity for eCommerce businesses - if they are ready to seize it. As we see more exploration of the internet beyond social, e-retailers can capture natural cross-category purchasing on its rise, but only if they have first established themselves and their product offering in an online marketplace," he said.
Pakistan Startup Funding. Source: Google-Kantar

With expanding Internet infrastructure and rapidly growing user base, Pakistan is now seeing robust growth in venture money pouring into technology startups. Pakistani startups are on track to attract more than $230 million in funding in 2021, more funds than all the money raised by Pakistani startups in their entire history. A recent example is Kleiner Perkins, a top Silicon Valley venture capital investment firm, that led a series A round of $17 million investment into Pakistani start-up Tajir. The startup operates an online marketplace for small store merchants in Pakistan. The announcement came via a tweet by Mamoon Hamid, a Pakistani-American Managing Partner at Kleiner Perkins who led the investment. Last year, Tajir raised a $1.8 million seed round.  The company's revenue has increased by 10x since its seed round. 
Pakistan Technology Exports Trend 2007-2021. Source: Arif Habib

Pakistan's technology exports are experiencing rapid growth in double digits over the last decade. Total technology exports jumped 47% to $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2020-21. 
Pakistan University Enrollment Growth. Source: Encyclopedia of High...
The foundation for Pakistan's digital transformation was laid with the higher education reform and telecommunications deregulation and investments starting in the year 2001 on President Musharraf's watch. With a huge increase in higher education funding, Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr. Ata ur Rehman succeeded in establishing 51 new universities during 2002-2008. As a result, university enrollment (which had reached only 275,000  from 1947 to 2003) soared to about 800,000 in 2008. This helped build a significant human capital that drove the IT revolution in Pakistan.      
 
Please watch the following video presentation for more details on Pakistan's technology startup ecosystem:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/ePApXOM3vkQ"; title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>" height="315" src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" width="560" style="cursor: move; background-color: #b2b2b2;" /> 
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Comment by Riaz Haq on September 14, 2021 at 7:14am

Digital freight marketplace BridgeLinx raises $10 million in #Pakistan's largest seed funding.This is 20 VC & Buckley Ventures’ 2nd lead #investment in Pakistan in recent weeks after an $85 million round in quick-commerce startup Airlift. https://tcrn.ch/3EikHzo via @techcrunch


BridgeLinx, a 9-month-old Lahore-headquartered startup that operates a digital freight marketplace, said on Tuesday it has raised $10 million in what is the largest seed financing round in Pakistan.

Harry Stebbings’ 20 VC, Josh Buckley’s Buckley Ventures and Indus Valley Capital co-led the startup’s financing round, which Salman Gul, co-founder and chief executive of BridgeLinx, told TechCrunch completed within weeks.

This is 20 VC and Buckley Ventures’ second lead investment in Pakistan in recent weeks following an $85 million round in quick-commerce startup Airlift. Indus Valley Capital, which recently also backed business-to-business marketplace Bazaar, has invested in all three of the recent high-profile investments in the South Asian country.

Wavemaker Partners, Quiet Capital, TrueSight Ventures, Soma Capital, Flexport, Magnus Rausing’s UNTITLED and founders of Convoy and Bazaar also participated in the round.

BridgeLinx is building a digital freight marketplace. The platform connects shippers — such as manufacturing companies, cement factories, textile companies — with truckers and private fleets.

It also provides its tech solutions to ensure documents validation on both ends, timely pickups, port operations and safety of cargo, said Gul, who previously worked at consultancy firm KPMG in Canada.

BridgeLinx has already onboarded thousands of carriers and is moving thousands of freight-loads each week for many large customers, he said.

As is true in India, Pakistan’s trucking system has a big inefficiency problem that continues to drag the economy.

One of the biggest problems faced by truckers is that once they have made a delivery, they have no work left during the return journey. So a truck delivering something to Lahore from Islamabad is likely not carrying something on its way back to the nation’s capital. This decades-old inefficiency continues to cost every stakeholder.

Startups like BridgeLinx are attempting to find ways to make this system more efficient, said Gul, who added that he has closely studied how Convoy, and India’s BlackBuck and Rivigo have expanded their businesses in the recent years.

BridgeLinx, like BlackBuck, currently operates on an asset-lite model — that is, it doesn’t own any vehicles. But Gul said there is benefit in replicating something from Rivigo, which owns its fleets. By having some trucks of its own, BridgeLinx will be able to ensure that vehicles on its platform are operating round the clock by having multiple drivers working in shifts.

“We will eventually have a hybrid of what BlackBuck and Rivigo offer,” he said.

The startup will deploy the fresh capital to expand to more verticals and broaden its tech offerings. It is also working on hiring more talent, he said.

“BridgeLinx has cracked the code for making end-to-end freight work in a hassle free manner and therefore signed up some of the top businesses in Pakistan,” said Aatif Awan, Managing Partner at Indus Valley Capital, in a statement.

“We believe this team is well on its way to bring unprecedented efficiencies to the country’s economy and are really excited to partner with them.”

On a side note, it’s fascinating to see Stebbings and Buckley emerge as the earliest investors to back startups in Pakistan at a time when several high-profile venture funds in Asia — including Sequoia Capital India, Accel, and Lightspeed — are yet to make any move in the country. Arguably, it’s the best time to back startups in Pakistan. The internet penetration has grown considerably in the country in the past decade and scores of startups are beginning to build the railroads for commerce, logistics, and payments.

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 19, 2021 at 7:39am

#Pakistan’s #Technology #exports surge 80.6% in August 2021. Exports of information and communication technology increased 46 percent to $420 million in the first two months of the current fiscal year 2021-22.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/893229-technology-exports-surge-80...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’ technology exports have increased by 80.6 percent in August 2021 over the same month last year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

During the month under review, technology exports recorded at $224 million against $124 million in August 2020.

Similarly, the exports of information and communication technology increased 46 percent to $420 million in the two months of the current fiscal year, according to central bank figures. Last fiscal, the exports were $287 million.


The government has focused on technology and IT sector to boost the exports. For this purpose, different incentives are being offered to freelancers. The startups in Pakistan have also made remarkable progress during recent months.

According to the International Labour Organization Flagship Report 2021, Pakistan has been ranked as the 2nd largest supplier of online labour in software development and technology.

Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque the other day inaugurated portal for online registration of freelancers at Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB).

Minister said the Pakistani freelancers had fuelled the growth of the gig economy in the country. The growth of Pakistani freelancers would enhance the country’s export earnings.

He also said that the National Freelancing Facilitation Policy has been developed after significant consultation and was focused on accelerating and sustaining the development of the freelancer industry in Pakistan.

Freelancers would be allowed to open a special dollar account to receive payments for their individual IT exports.

The government has been working to introduce Special Technology Zones (STZs) all over the country to further boost the IT industry.

IT exports could jump to $4 billion in a year if the package for the IT and telecom sector announced by the government gets implemented, according to experts.

Last month, the government announced to establish a Rs10 billion fund for providing cash rewards to IT companies against their exports. The government is also set to offer a five percent rebate on these exports.

The higher growth in the country’s technology product and services exports was due to the coronavirus pandemic related rise in freelancing activities.

Telecommunications, computer and information services are the major items of services exports.

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 19, 2021 at 7:52am

THE RISE OF PAKISTANI TECH

https://www.dawn.com/news/1647193


The last one year has seen an exponential rise in Pakistani start-up companies, as more and more tech-savvy entrepreneurs attempt to solve longstanding business issues with the help of technology. Backed by investment, pitches are finally moving from mere buzzwords to reality. Eos profiles some of the most prominent of these new companies and the people behind them…

n a Wednesday night, thousands show up to attend an online event titled ‘Pakistani Start-ups: The Next Big Thing’. Before the conference begins, the timer ticks on screen and dramatic music plays in the background. The comments section is already brimming with excitement.

“Hello from Rawalpindi,” one comment reads. “Hello from Los Angeles,” says another. And in a sea of hellos from Pakistan and around the world, one jokester says, hello from Wakanda — referring to a fictional country that is very technologically advanced, from Marvel comics and films.

The event has been organised by Paklaunch, a community aiming to connect start-ups with mentors, advisers and investors. Clearly, many in the virtual audience are looking for connections and mentorship. The comments section continues to populate with young individuals, working in tech, introducing themselves.

Pakistani start-ups have thus far secured at least 240 million dollars in investment in 2021 alone.

The countdown ends and makes way for a promotional video that declares that, in Pakistan, you’ll find the “drive, grit and ambition characteristic of the early days in Silicon Valley.” “The venture-backed start-up transformation that happened in the US, China, India and Indonesia is now taking off in Pakistan,” the voice-over continues, over imagery of tech being used across the country.

Soon, President Dr Arif Alvi is on the screen. “Pakistan is catapulting itself in the new digital era,” he says. After welcoming the participants and investors from around the world, he opens the conference by saying, “Pakistan Zindabad!”

***
The Pakistani tech industry and start-ups have been a frequent talking point over the past year. “Pakistan has huge potential and we are open for business,” tweeted Prime Minister Imran Khan last month when Airlift — a Lahore-based tech start-up — secured 85 million dollars in ‘Series B’ financing. Less than a week later, it was announced that Bazaar — a Karachi-based tech start-up — had secured 30 million dollars in ‘Series A’ funding. This prompted federal minister Asad Umar to tweet, “Time for the Pakistani tech sector has arrived.”

Indeed, the Pakistani tech sector seems to have arrived in a big way. Good news about this boom has continued to mount over the past year. Pakistani start-ups have thus far secured at least 240 million dollars in investment in 2021 alone. For comparison, 66 million dollars were raised in all of last year.

News reports of these triumphs are often published with images of young men and women, usually dressed in business-casual attire or even t-shirts and jeans, smilingly looking into the camera. Surely, they have something to smile about. They see and are a part of a future not everyone can envision just yet.

While the technologically challenged and those without much business savvy may not understand what Series A and Series B funding are, or what terms such as ‘FinTech’ mean, it is clear for all to see that the young minds behind tech start-ups understand international and local funds, and the needs of Pakistan.

(Cheat sheet: Pre-seed-funding is the earliest stage of funding, while seed-funding is the first official funding stage, according to Investopedia, a publication that aims to simplify complex financial information. Series A, B and C the next are funding rounds. Series B financing is the second round of funding for a company that has met certain milestones. Another Investopedia article says that the term ‘FinTech’ refers to the integration of technology into offerings by financial services companies, in order to improve their use and delivery to consumers).

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 20, 2021 at 8:26am

#Karachi-based #Pakistani #edtech #startup Maqsad gets $2.1M pre-seed #Investment to make #education more accessible. Maqsad's goal is “to make education more accessible to 100 million Pakistani students.” #technology #Pakistan https://tcrn.ch/3EIQNVw via @techcrunch

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the education industry, heating up the global edtech startups that made online education more accessible for a wider population, for example in countries like India and Indonesia, Aziz mentioned.

The education market size in Pakistan is estimated at $12 billion and is projected to increase to $30 billion by 2030, according to Aziz.

---------------

Taha Ahmed and Rooshan Aziz left their jobs in strategy consulting and investment banking in London earlier this year in order to found a mobile-only education platform startup, Maqsad, in Pakistan, with a goal “to make education more accessible to 100 million Pakistani students.”

Having grown up in Karachi, childhood friends Ahmed and Aziz are aware of the challenges about the Pakistani education system, which is notably worse for those not living in large urban areas (the nation’s student-teacher ratio is 44:1). Pakistani children are less likely to go to school for each kilometer of distance between school and their home — with girls being four times affected, Maqsad co-founder Aziz said.

Maqsad announced today its $2.1 million pre-seed round to enhance its content platform growth and invest in R&D.

The pre-seed round, which was completed in just three weeks via virtual meetings, was led by Indus Valley Capital, with participation from Alter Global, Fatima Gobi Ventures and several angel investors from Pakistan, the Middle East and Europe.

Maqsad will use the proceeds for developing in-house content, such as production studio, academics and animators, as well as bolstering R&D and engineering, Aziz told TechCrunch. The company will focus on the K-12 education in Pakistan, including 11th and 12th grade math, with plans to expand into other STEM subjects for the next one-two years, Aziz said.

Maqsad’s platform, which provides a one-stop shop for after-school academic content in a mix of English and Urdu, will be supplemented by quizzes and other gamified features that will come together to offer a personalized education to individuals. Its platform features include adaptive testing that alter a question’s level of difficulty depending on users’ responses, Aziz explained.

The word “maqsad” means purpose in Urdu.

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 22, 2021 at 6:55am

#Fintech startup TAG valued at $100 million in #Pakistan's largest seed round of $12 million. Tag partners with public & private firms to offer their employees #banking services, including salary disbursement. #technology #startup https://tcrn.ch/39tCAxk via @techcrunch

Tag, a one-year-old startup that offers banking and financial services to users in Pakistan, has raised over $12 million in what is now the largest seed financing round in the South Asian market.

Liberty City Ventures, Canaan Partners, Addition, Mantis and Banana Capital and others financed the round, which brings YC-backed Tag’s to-date raise to over $17.5 million. This is the firm time many of these investors, including Lee Fixel’s Addition, have invested in a startup in Pakistan.

The round values Tag at $100 million, two people involved in the deal told TechCrunch. The new funding took just two weeks to close, Tag founder and chief executive Talal Gondal told TechCrunch in an interview. He declined to comment on the valuation.

The investor’s excitement to Tag comes as the startup builds one of the crucial railroads for users in Pakistan. “We are trying to become both Revolut and Paytm in Pakistan,” the 29-year-old founder said.

Tag partners with public and private firms to offer their employees banking services including getting their salaries on the Tag account and Visa-powered virtual and physical cards. Signing up on Tag — which includes some verification of an individual’s identity — just takes three minutes, he said.

It also provides a range of B2C offerings such as the ability to pay others online and top up utility bills that are available to any user in Pakistan who signs up to the platform.

“We eventually want to offer the complete set of banking and financial services to users in Pakistan,” he said.


-----------------

A group of very young startups have made splashy funding announcements in recent weeks. Quick-commerce startup Airlift unveiled a record $85 million Series B last month, followed by business-to-business Bazaar’s record $30 million Series A round. Last week, the digital freight marketplace BridgeLinx announced a $10 million seed round, which at the time was the nation’s largest. Wednesday’s announcement also makes Tag one of the most valued firms from Y Combinator’s recent batches.

Gondal said startups are finally having a moment in the South Asian market. “Each country’s startup ecosystem goes through various waves. In India, we saw e-commerce firms like Flipkart flourish in the first wave. Firms like Ola, Zomato and Swiggy and fintech firms like PhonePe and Paytm made inroads in the waves after that,” he said, adding that he saw a similar trend in Berlin.

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 27, 2021 at 4:42pm

#Pakistan’s record run of #IPOs is expected to accelerate in coming months. 7 companies raised an unprecedented PKR 17 billion (US$100 million) in the fiscal year ended June. Current year total will be “significantly higher,” says PSX CEO. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-27/record-ipo-wave-... via @markets

“There’s a full pipeline” of companies planning to list, Khan said in an interview this month. “IPOs happen because people need capital, so you need good things happening at the exchange level; that the exchange is functioning well, there’s ample liquidity, investors are available and the valuations are good.”

Khan pointed to the success of Air Link Communication Ltd. -- which started trading last week following the country’s largest private sector IPO -- and Octopus Digital’s offer that was oversubscribed within 30 minutes of opening its book building, as evidence that current weakness in the markets won’t deter potential applicants.

While Pakistan’s benchmark stock index has rebounded about 70% from its pandemic lows in March 2020, it’s up just 1.6% this year, underperforming most of its global peers. Pakistan’s KSE-100 Index dropped 1.5% as of 2:47 p.m. local time Monday.


Companies need money to invest as Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government targets the highest economic growth in four years, PSX’s Khan said. Drugmaker Searle Co. and internet services company Telecard Ltd. are among firms planning to list subsidiaries.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange, which is 40% owned by a consortium of Chinese bourses, is embedding a new trading platform acquired from its partner Shenzen Stock Exchange Co. that will allow new products to be launched in about two months.

The stock exchange is also working on a plan that will enable trading in sovereign bonds by the end of the year, said Khan, adding that index trading, derivatives or options trading will be launched between January-June after consultation with market players.

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 29, 2021 at 6:37am

#Pakistan’s buy-now, pay-later #startup QisstPay has raised $15 million in early stage investment, ahead of expanding to #SriLanka and #Bangladesh. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-29/pakistan-s-qisst...


MSA Capital led the round with participation including from Global Founders Capital, Fox Ventures and First Check Ventures. The Islamabad-based company wants to enter other South Asian markets within six months.

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 29, 2021 at 6:12pm

Pakistan’s first buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform QisstPay raised $15 million in pre-seed and seed funding rounds that will be used to help the startup build out its adaptable, interest-free platform for installments, according to a press release.


https://www.pymnts.com/buy-now-pay-later/2021/pakistan-qisstpay-not...


The mix of equity and debt funding was led by MSA Capital, with participation from Global Founders Capital, Fox Ventures and First Check Ventures, the release stated.

Strategic angel investments also came from Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski, co-founders of Scalapay; Ashley Davies, former Venmo chief financial officer and current Sylp CFO; Adam Mawdesley, vice president of Partnerships and Product at Splitit; and United Bank Limited of Pakistan, according to the release.

Read more: Power and Perils of Bringing BNPL to Pakistan

QisstPay offers installment payments for emerging markets and aims to address the hidden fees and lack of integration that has permeated the payments ecosystem in Pakistan, the release stated. When chosen at checkout, QisstPay enables shoppers to pay in installments with no interest or late fees.

Co-Founder Jordan Olivas said in the release he saw the need for such a product when he moved to the country — the fifth largest population in the world — and realized that people could benefit from a financial tool to purchase goods and services.

“Over 60% of Pakistan’s population is under the age of 30, which means that the majority of the country is adopting new technologies,” he said in the release. “Yet so many people still believe that Pakistan isn’t ready to adopt a BNPL system. The rapid growth and use of a platform like QisstPay proves otherwise.”

See also: Pakistan’s TAG Raises $12M in Seed Funding Round

The installment tool gives Pakistanis the ability to pay for items they need every day while also helping them better manage their money in what is largely a cash-driven landscape. Most people in the country don’t have the wherewithal to obtain credit cards and have turned to QisstPay to help them manage expenses to pay for necessities like phone service and food, the release stated.

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 6, 2021 at 4:31pm

#Pakistan Launches #STEM program for youth. It is being initially introduced in 50 schools (grades 9-12) with building of special laboratories and teachers training. Students will be enrolled "based on their ability and talent" #science #STEMeducation https://www.dawn.com/news/1650447

President Dr Arif Alvi stressed on Wednesday the need to focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in the education sector, saying it was important for the country and people to progress.

Addressing a ceremony held to launch the STEM programme for higher secondary school students, he compared Pakistan with its neighbouring countries in this regard.

"China produces around 4.7 million graduates in STEM subjects every, while India produces around 2.6 million and Iran 350,000. And where do we stand?" the president said, adding that he believed that the number of STEM graduates was lower in Pakistan.

He called for increased focus on STEM in the education sector, saying that it was crucial for the nation to compete with the rest of the world so that it did not lag behind and progress.


The STEM programme
According to a report by Radio Pakistan, the programme, which will train students in STEM subjects, will be launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 50 government-run higher secondary schools across the country.

Students of grades 9 to 12 will be enrolled in the pilot programme and selected "based on their ability and talent", it added.

In a video message ahead of the programme's launch, Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said STEM subjects had acquired a "special importance" in the world.

Sharing details about the programme, Faraz said the programme was planned in 2020 and he and his team had worked on it day and night to give it "practical shape".

Initially, the programme would be introduced in 50 schools, he said, adding that special laboratories would be built and teachers would be given specific training.

"These schools will also be associated with universities. The schools have been selected purely on merit, not political reasons. The principals will be our guests [in today's event]."

A new era of progress will start because of these STEM schools in which we have given a new direction to the education system to make our students competitive globally, he further said.

The programme would have three aspects — labs, teacher training and STEM modules, he shared.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, who previously held the portfolio of science and technology, termed the programme a "game changer".

He said he had designed the programme because the country will "not change" until government schools are modernised.

"I am very happy that this plan is turning into a reality despite delays," he said in a tweet.

The minister expressed hope that more schools would adopt the STEM model following its implementation in 450 schools initially. Universities have been instructed to "adopt" schools and improve the level of science education, he shared.

Last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved the STEM project in collaboration with varsities.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had said at the time that special laboratories for science and technology, engineering and mathematics would be established in 40 schools in the first phase.

Around 100,000 children in 400 schools will have access to education and training in modern sciences through the project.

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 6, 2021 at 4:31pm

#Pakistan Launches #STEM program for youth. It is being initially introduced in 50 schools (grades 9-12) with building of special laboratories and teachers training. Students will be enrolled "based on their ability and talent" #science #STEMeducation https://www.dawn.com/news/1650447

President Dr Arif Alvi stressed on Wednesday the need to focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in the education sector, saying it was important for the country and people to progress.

Addressing a ceremony held to launch the STEM programme for higher secondary school students, he compared Pakistan with its neighbouring countries in this regard.

"China produces around 4.7 million graduates in STEM subjects every, while India produces around 2.6 million and Iran 350,000. And where do we stand?" the president said, adding that he believed that the number of STEM graduates was lower in Pakistan.

He called for increased focus on STEM in the education sector, saying that it was crucial for the nation to compete with the rest of the world so that it did not lag behind and progress.


The STEM programme
According to a report by Radio Pakistan, the programme, which will train students in STEM subjects, will be launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 50 government-run higher secondary schools across the country.

Students of grades 9 to 12 will be enrolled in the pilot programme and selected "based on their ability and talent", it added.

In a video message ahead of the programme's launch, Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said STEM subjects had acquired a "special importance" in the world.

Sharing details about the programme, Faraz said the programme was planned in 2020 and he and his team had worked on it day and night to give it "practical shape".

Initially, the programme would be introduced in 50 schools, he said, adding that special laboratories would be built and teachers would be given specific training.

"These schools will also be associated with universities. The schools have been selected purely on merit, not political reasons. The principals will be our guests [in today's event]."

A new era of progress will start because of these STEM schools in which we have given a new direction to the education system to make our students competitive globally, he further said.

The programme would have three aspects — labs, teacher training and STEM modules, he shared.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, who previously held the portfolio of science and technology, termed the programme a "game changer".

He said he had designed the programme because the country will "not change" until government schools are modernised.

"I am very happy that this plan is turning into a reality despite delays," he said in a tweet.

The minister expressed hope that more schools would adopt the STEM model following its implementation in 450 schools initially. Universities have been instructed to "adopt" schools and improve the level of science education, he shared.

Last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved the STEM project in collaboration with varsities.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had said at the time that special laboratories for science and technology, engineering and mathematics would be established in 40 schools in the first phase.

Around 100,000 children in 400 schools will have access to education and training in modern sciences through the project.

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