ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to share its open-source digital infrastructure free of charge with emerging economies once it is completed, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said at the LEAP technology conference in Saudi Arabia, where Islamabad is pitching the country’s digital transformation to global investors.

LEAP 2026, being held in Riyadh from Aug. 31-Sept. 3, is a major global technology gathering bringing together more than 1,800 technology companies, 600 startups and 1,900 investors. Pakistan has a dedicated pavilion at the event as it seeks investment and greater access to international markets for its technology industry.

Khawaja said Pakistan was building a national digital “stack,” an interconnected set of technological systems for areas such as digital identity, data and payments that can provide the basic infrastructure for government and private-sector digital services.

“Pakistan’s national stack is built on open source, and when it is complete, we will share it free with every frontier and emerging nation that wants it, not sold, shared,” she said.

The minister noted the government’s role was to build the underlying digital infrastructure and allow private companies to use it to develop services for citizens and businesses.

“The state builds data identity payments, the ecosystem around them, and then steps aside,” she said. “Products belong to the private sector.”

Khawaja said Pakistan was also seeking to bring international payment gateways into the country, an issue of particular importance for its growing population of freelancers and remote workers who earn from overseas clients.

She pointed out the government had already started working on improving digital connectivity, including through a spectrum auction, new submarine cables and fiber reforms, before turning to policy continuity and improving the competitiveness of technology businesses.

She also highlighted tax incentives for technology companies and special technology zones, saying the government wanted private businesses rather than ministries to develop services using the country’s digital infrastructure.

“A government makes laws and policies, not software,” Khawaja said. “Our work is to make sure that laws that make the ecosystem conducive are in place.”