Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz launched the province's first Punjab Innovation for Value, Opportunity and Transformation (PIVOT) programme in Lahore on 30 October 2026, alongside the STEP portal. The three-year plan for 2026-29 is valued at Rs1,995.3 billion, combining around Rs1,089 billion in public investment with Rs906 billion expected from the private sector. The provincial government says it will add $6.8 billion to exports, create 162,000 direct jobs and improve livelihoods for more than one million people over three years.

Where the money is aimed

PIVOT is designed to move Punjab towards export-led growth across industry, agriculture, tourism, skills and technology. About Rs753.7 billion is allocated to strengthening the industrial sector, and a target has been set to train 402,060 people for industry needs. A Rs300 billion concessional financing facility under the Strategic Trade Enhancement Programme (STEP) will offer rates from zero to five per cent for eligible businesses. Four specialised agro-processing parks are planned in Sargodha, Khanewal, Okara and Bhakkar, covering fruit processing, cold storage, grading and other value-added activity, alongside support for established export clusters including textiles, garments, sports goods, leather, surgical instruments, pharmaceuticals, fans, cutlery, steel and ceramics.

How it will be run, and what is still unproven

A PIVOT Board, chaired by Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on the chief minister's behalf, will oversee the programme, with a PIVOT Secretariat in the Planning and Development Department handling coordination. Progress is to be tracked through a central dashboard and an industry scorecard, and officials say the plan will be operational within six months. State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad told the launch that small and medium enterprise financing had risen 61 per cent to Rs1.1 trillion by June 2026, with a target of Rs2 trillion by fiscal year 2028. The export, jobs and livelihood figures remain government targets at this stage, not delivered results, and the test will be whether private investment and new export orders follow the launch.