Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Wednesday launched the IBI Pakistan Digital Economy Headquarters here, describing it as a powerful symbol of the enduring Pakistan-China partnership and a new chapter of digital collaboration.
The deputy prime minister, in his keynote address at the launching ceremony, said that the launch of IBI headquarters marked a transformative milestone in the Pakistan-China All-Weather Strategic Partnership.
Highlighting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s vision to establish Pakistan as a regional hub for digital innovation, he said that Pakistan-China partnership was transitioning from physical infrastructure, such as the Karakoram Highway and CPEC energy projects, toward “intelligent infrastructure,” AI, ICT, and digital connectivity.
“Today, we are moving from roads to networks, from physical infrastructure to digital architecture…We are building a digital Silk Road today, beginning with the launch of the IBI headquarters in Islamabad,” the deputy prime minister said.
He told the gathering that under CPEC 2.0, cooperation was expanding beyond traditional sectors into digital transformation, smart cities, and climate resilience.
Sharing optimistic economic indicators including a fall in inflation, rising GDP and a dive in the policy interest, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to returning Pakistan to the roadmap of becoming a top-20 global economy.
With the world’s fifth-largest population and a rapidly growing youth demographic, Deputy Prime Minister Dar emphasized that Pakistan was no longer “waiting for its moment” but has reached a stage of immense IT potential and global competitiveness.
He welcomed Beijing United Information Technology (IBI) to Pakistan, noting that its platform—serving millions of enterprises across 100 industrial sectors in China—reflected strong international confidence in Pakistan’s economy.
He also lauded the efforts of Pakistan’s Ambassador to Beijing Khalil Hashmi for professionally facilitating B2B forums, noting that 30% of the $10 billion in MOUs signed during recent visits to China have already been translated into finalized projects.
Dar also announced that Prime Minister Shehbaz would undertake an official visit to China from May 23 to May 26, which would include a vibrant B2B business forum to further deepen commercial ties.
Earlier, in his address, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi explained that if Amazon and Alibaba were the e-commerce giants of consumer goods, IBI was the e-commerce giant of industrial goods.
He said that IBI was a Fortune 500 company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Hashmi said that the IBI launch represented a massive opportunity, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan, offering a gateway to a vast Chinese market—spanning agriculture, aquaculture, and industrial goods—and, through China, a path to the rest of the world.
He said that by deepening digital industrial cooperation and synchronizing government and corporate resources, IBI has successfully translated high-level leadership directives into tangible results.
“Today, we are witnessing the convergence of two transformative forces: the enduring friendship between Pakistan and China and the unstoppable rise of the digital economy,” he added.
Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Special Assistant to PM Haroon Akhtar Khan also addressed the launching ceremony.
