Pakistan and Russia have drawn up a shortlist of concrete information technology opportunities in cybersecurity, enterprise software, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, with companies on both sides ready to pursue pilot projects.

The shortlist came out of the Pakistan-Russia IT Collaboration Webinar, the third event in the Pakistan-Russia Webinar Series. It was organised on 5 November by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), under the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, in collaboration with the University of World Civilizations Moscow.

The event was held at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives in Islamabad, with Russian speakers joining from Moscow. Its theme was Building Technology Partnerships, Market Access and Joint Solutions, and it brought together a focused group of leading companies and industry associations from both countries, each asked to bring specific capabilities and business needs.

Talks covered six areas where the two industries complement each other: artificial intelligence and cloud computing; cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection; digital governance and digital public infrastructure; IT and IT-enabled services trade, investment and business-to-business cooperation; digital skills and workforce exchange; and quantum computing.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, the chief guest, said technology had become a key driver of Pakistan's economic transformation. He urged Pakistan and Russia to move beyond conventional cooperation towards technology-driven partnerships, joint ventures and globally competitive products and digital platforms.

Iqbal pointed to Pakistan's talent base of more than 75,000 IT graduates a year, the target of developing one million AI professionals by 2030, and the setting up of seven new AI centres to strengthen research, innovation and links between industry and academia. He also cited NADRA's digital identity system and the Raast instant payment system, which processed 646 million transactions in a single quarter, as examples of Pakistan's digital capabilities.

The push builds on Pakistan's IT and telecom exports, which reached a record 4.6 billion dollars in FY2025-26, up about 20 per cent from the previous year. The sector is now looking for new markets, new partners and higher-value work, and Russia is being positioned as one of those markets.

Russian Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Bella Cherkesova gave the keynote address from the Russian side, covering policy, investment and emerging technologies in the Pakistan-Russia digital partnership. Pakistan's Ambassador to Russia, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, said relations had entered a more mature and multidimensional phase, and that technology and digital trade could become a new pillar of the economic partnership.

PSEB Chief Executive Officer Faisal Jeddy presented a framework for turning discussion into business, running from first contact to first contract: define the opportunity, match the right companies, agree a pilot, and name focal persons on both sides. He said partnerships rarely fail for lack of intent, and added that PSEB would stay with participating companies until the conversations become contracts.

Industry sessions turned the framework into specific proposals. In one session, RUSSOFT President Valentin Makarov and P@SHA Chairman Dr Shoaib Ahmed Khan discussed linking the two software industries through structured partnerships and joint delivery. In a second session, Ebryx chief executive Ahrar Naqvi, Positive Technologies Regional CEO Yegor Rykov, TMC Group chief executive Abdul Haseeb and Russian Quantum Center Director Dr Alexey Akimov explored co-development in cybersecurity, enterprise software, financial technology, AI and cloud, with joint delivery in Pakistan, Russia and third-country markets.

In his concluding remarks, IT and Telecommunication Secretary Zarrar Hasham Khan said the ministry's role now is to remove friction, from market intelligence and regulatory facilitation to visibility for Pakistani companies in the Russian market, so the first pilot projects can begin without delay. He said progress would be reviewed regularly with PSEB and partners.

The webinar did not name the pilot projects, give their value or set dates, so the results will depend on follow-up between the companies and PSEB. What it did establish is a shared shortlist and a process for pursuing it, with both governments publicly backing company-led deals rather than state-to-state declarations alone.