ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's caretaker information technology (IT) minister, Umar Saif, has met with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital economy, Omar bin Sultan Al-Olama, and discussed with him bilateral collaboration in AI, digital economy and venture capital investments, the Pakistani minister said on Monday. 

The meeting came during Saif's visit to the UAE where he also attended the 43rd edition of the GITEX (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition) GLOBAL tech and startup show, being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from Oct 16 till Oct 20. 

Saif described his meeting with the UAE minister as "wonderful." 

"He expressed keen interest in collaborating on AI, digital economy and venture capital investments in Pakistan and proposed to sign a formal MoU (memorandum of understanding)," the Pakistani IT minister said on X. 

Pakistan has one of the largest exhibit lounges at GITEX, which is dubbed as the world’s largest IT exhibition, according to the minister.

"We have 27 companies and over 45 startups," Saif said in another X post. "Our brand TechDestinationPakistan is one of the biggest brands visible at GITEX, and the buzz around Pakistan’s IT industry is electrifying." 

Pakistan and the UAE enjoy close cooperation in various sectors including defense, health, trade, culture and information. More than 1.6 million Pakistani expatriates live in the Gulf country and work in public and private sectors. 

Each year, they remit over $4 billion to Pakistan. According to official data, the Pakistani diaspora in the UAE remitted a whopping $5.10 billion in 2022.