ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top IT bodies have teamed up to host a Pakistan x Saudi Business Forum networking event ahead of the LEAP Tech Conference being held in Riyadh from Feb. 9-12, the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) said in a press release on Thursday.
This is the fourth edition of LEAP, recognized as Saudi Arabia’s award-winning global technology event for which entrepreneurs, investors and startups will converge in Riyadh to present their products to an anticipated audience of over 170,000 visitors. The platform offers cutting-edge technology showcases, B2B networking opportunities and expert-led conferences.
While Pakistan recorded the highest-ever monthly IT exports of $348 million, up by 15 percent year-on-year and 12 percent month-on-month, in December 2024, its IT sector growth is overshadowed by concerns over slowing Internet speed and a government-led digital crackdown, which authorities deny.
“P@SHA and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) will be collaboratively hosting an exclusive networking dinner, Pakistan x Saudi Business Forum, curated to connect leaders from the top tiers of government and industry,” P@SHA said in a press release on Thursday.
The event will provide a platform for “for key stakeholders to foster collaboration, explore business opportunities and strengthen ties within the vibrant Saudi market” and showcase Pakistan’s “diverse and thriving IT services exports, covering areas such as software development, AI, blockchain, health, FinTech, gaming and robotics.”
LEAP 2025 will for the first time introduce Tech Arena, a new platform for emerging innovations that will feature a ‘Live TV’ platform, offering real-time demonstrations and discussions hosted by BBC Click’s Lara Lewington and Spencer Kelly. Visitors will engage with innovations in AI, mixed reality, fashion technology, and brain-computer interfaces.
A key highlight will be Anouk Wipprecht’s Tech Couture exhibit, where robotic dress collections will integrate engineering with fashion. Adobe’s ‘Project Primrose’ will present digital dress technology, introducing dynamic textiles with adaptive designs.
The Tech Arena will also showcase medical technology advancements, including Aramco-backed Terra Drone’s long-range medical delivery system, which aims to improve health care access in remote areas. Aramco will also introduce SARA (Saudi Aramco Robotics Assistant), an AI-driven assistant designed to enhance decision-making and streamline operations.
US-based Engine VR will present its Golden Gloves VR platform, which uses virtual reality for immersive boxing training. UFC fighter Andrew Sanchez will conduct live demonstrations, giving attendees the opportunity to experience the platform.
Alwaleed Philanthropies will present Atlai, an AI tool designed to monitor deforestation and support global conservation efforts. XPANCEO will showcase smart contact lenses that integrate computing power into a lightweight wearable device, offering new ways to interact with digital information.
The Tech Arena is one of two new segments introduced at LEAP 2025, alongside the SportsTech stage. These additions support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals of fostering innovation and technological growth.
Pakistan’s top IT bodies to host business forum event ahead of LEAP 2025 in Riyadh
https://arab.news/9xzr5
Pakistan’s top IT bodies to host business forum event ahead of LEAP 2025 in Riyadh
- P@SHA and PSEB will host networking dinner showcasing Pakistan’s tech innovations
- This is fourth edition of LEAP, recognized as Saudi Arabia’s award-winning global tech event
Pakistan offloads 23 passengers bound for Malaysia in illegal immigration crackdown
- Authorities say passengers admitted being in contact with agents who were helping them seek illegal employment on a visit visa
- Pakistan arrested over 1,700 smugglers, offloaded 66,154 passengers and recorded a 47 percent fall in illegal migration to Europe in 2025
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities offloaded 23 passengers traveling from Karachi to Malaysia to seek employment on visit visas, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Friday, as the country ramps up its crackdown on illegal immigration.
The development is part of Pakistan’s continuing effort to curb illegal immigration and human smuggling. Pakistan reported a 47 percent drop in illegal immigration to Europe this year, with more than 1,700 human smugglers arrested.
Authorities said this week 66,154 passengers were offloaded from Pakistani airports in 2025 so far compared to last year’s figure of 35,000.
“The passengers were traveling to Malaysia on flight number D7-109,” an FIA statement said on Friday.
“The passengers were planning to go into hiding after reaching Malaysia,” it continued, adding they “admitted that they were traveling to Malaysia under the cover of visit visas to seek employment.”
The statement said the passengers, hailing from Peshawar, Lower Dir, Mardan, Swat, Bajaur and Bannu in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as Gujrat in Punjab and Karachi in Sindh, were in contact with agents who were helping them seek illegal employment in Malaysia.
The FIA said the passengers were carrying insufficient funds and failed to show the amount required to cover visit visa expenses.
It added they had not submitted the mandatory bank statements needed to obtain Malaysian visit visas.
All the arrested passengers have been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking circle in Karachi for further verification and legal action.
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of people, including its own nationals, lost their lives while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach European shores in an overcrowded vessel that sank off the Greek coast.
Earlier this week, the FIA offloaded three passengers at Karachi airport who were attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on forged documents.
In September, the FIA released a list of more than 100 of the country’s “most wanted” human smugglers as part of its ongoing nationwide operation, identifying major hubs of trafficking activity across Punjab and Islamabad.
Earlier in December, Pakistan’s interior ministry announced to roll out an AI-based immigration screening system in Islamabad from January next year to detect forged travel documents and prevent illegal departures.
