Foreign investors to converge in Lahore as Pakistan hosts major IT expo this month

In this undated picture, Pakistan's IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja addressing the inaugural session of Information Technology & Telecom Network (ITCN) Asia 2025. (ITCN Website)
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Updated 07 January 2026
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Foreign investors to converge in Lahore as Pakistan hosts major IT expo this month

  • Over 350 global investors will participate in the three-day event scheduled to begin on Jan. 17
  • ITCN is Pakistan’s largest IT expo focusing on cybersecurity, AI, cloud computing and e-commerce

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will host the Information Technology & Telecom Network (ITCN) Asia 2026 exhibition in the eastern city of Lahore from Jan. 17 to 19, the state broadcaster reported on Wednesday, bringing together more than 350 international investors and delegates.

ITCN Asia is Pakistan’s largest information and communications technology exhibition and conference, which is regularly held to highlight developments in fields including cybersecurity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, e-commerce and digital governance.

The three-day event will feature more than 150 exhibition booths, showcasing over 3,000 global brands.

“A three-day prestigious global event ITCN Asia 2026 will commence in Lahore on the 17th of this month,” Radio Pakistan said in a report.

“The federal and provincial ministers, policymakers, industry leaders and international experts will participate in the exhibition.”

Pakistan has actively sought foreign investment in its technology sector, as the country’s startups and software houses have attracted global interest in recent years.

The country’s IT exports rose by $180 million to $1,057 million during July-September last year, compared with $877 million in the same period of 2024, according to the information technology ministry.

Pakistan’s technology sector is also advancing in AI and cloud computing, marked by the launch of Pakistan’s first sovereign AI cloud in November, designed to keep sensitive data domestic and support growth in the broader digital ecosystem.

Radio Pakistan said the second leg of the ITCN Asia 2026 exhibition will take place in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi from Sep. 22-24.


Rating firm S&P says it won’t rush Iran war downgrades, sees risks for countries like Pakistan

Updated 12 March 2026
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Rating firm S&P says it won’t rush Iran war downgrades, sees risks for countries like Pakistan

  • Agency says it is monitoring indebted energy importers as higher oil prices strain finances
  • Gulf economies seen better placed to weather shock, though Bahrain flagged as vulnerable

LONDON: S&P Global ‌said it would not make any knee-jerk sovereign rating cuts following the outbreak of war in the ​Middle East, but warned on Thursday that soaring oil and gas prices were putting a number of already cash-strapped countries at risk.

The firm’s top analysts said in a webinar that the conflict, which has involved US and Israeli strikes ‌against Iran and Iranian ‌strikes against Israel, ​US ‌bases ⁠and Gulf ​states, ⁠was now moving from a low- to moderate-risk scenario.

Most Gulf countries had enough fiscal buffers, however, to weather the crisis for a while, with more lowly rated Bahrain the only clear exception.

Qatar’s banking sector could ⁠also struggle if there were significant ‌deposit outflows in ‌reaction to the conflict, although there ​was no evidence ‌of such strains at the moment, they ‌said.

“We don’t want to jump the gun and just say things are bad,” S&P’s head global sovereign analyst, Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, said.

The longer the crisis ‌was prolonged, though, “the more difficult it is going to be,” he ⁠added.

Sifon-Arevalo ⁠said Asia was the second-most exposed region, due to many of its countries being significant Gulf oil and gas importers.

India, Thailand and Indonesia have relatively lower reserves of oil, while the region also had already heavily indebted countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka whose finances would be further hurt by rising energy prices.

“We ​are closely monitoring ​these (countries) to see how the credit stories evolve,” Sifon-Arevalo said.