Federal Minister for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja has won the global “Industry Champion of the Year 2026” honour at the Fast Mode Awards 2026.
The “Industry Champion of the Year” is the highest individual honour of the Fast Mode Awards and is conferred on only one leader from across the world every year.
At the Fast Mode Awards 2026, the Pakistani minister secured the global distinction in a competition featuring more than 500 companies from over 60 countries.
Under the leadership of Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Pakistan’s IT and IT-enabled services exports reached a record $4.6 billion in the fiscal year 2025-26.
Pakistan’s IT sector also led all services sectors with a historic trade surplus of $3.9 billion.
The export earnings of Pakistani freelancers reached an all-time high of $1.76 billion, while the number of freelancers exceeded 2.37 million.
In March 2026, Pakistan completed the largest 5G and NGMS spectrum auction in its history, taking the country’s total spectrum to 750 MHz.
Pakistan also became the first country in Asia to abolish right-of-way charges for the expansion of fibre optic networks.
In August 2026, Google formally registered in Pakistan and inaugurated its first office in the country. An assembly line for 600,000 Chromebooks annually was also launched in Pakistan.
Under the DigiSkills programme, more than 4.5 million young people have received free digital training, including 800,000 women.
According to GSMA, Pakistan recorded the world’s fastest progress in reducing the gender gap in mobile internet usage, bringing it down from 38 per cent to 8 per cent.
Pakistan also achieved a major milestone in digital development by improving 27 places in the ITU ICT Development Index 2026.
The global award has been described as an important milestone for Pakistan’s IT industry and digital development.
