The Government of Pakistan and Alibaba signed a series of memoranda of understanding at Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou on 24 May 2026, covering artificial intelligence, cloud solutions, healthcare technology, SME enablement and digital financial services. The agreements were signed by Ignite National Technology Fund, Sky47 and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority on behalf of Pakistan, and by Alibaba Cloud, DAMO Academy, Alibaba.com and Koko Tech for Alibaba, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai in attendance.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the collaboration and highlighted the potential to drive digital inclusion, youth empowerment, modernise agriculture and digitise the financial sector through private‑public cooperation. Alibaba Group leadership emphasised Pakistan’s talent pool and the role of AI, cloud technologies and embodied intelligence in improving healthcare outcomes and expanding digital exports.
Under the agreement between Ignite and Alibaba Cloud, the partners will develop secure, localised AI and cloud solutions including foundation models for Urdu and regional languages to serve education, healthcare and agriculture. The collaboration will also roll out nationwide AI and cloud skills programmes targeting 500,000 developers, students and public sector employees through training and certification, and co‑host a joint AI hackathon focused on smart agriculture, financial inclusion and Urdu language technologies.
DAMO Academy and Sky47 will deploy AI‑enabled healthcare solutions centred on multi‑disease screening technology that uses non‑contrast CT scans to detect lesions that are often difficult to spot, enabling earlier identification of cancers such as pancreatic and liver cancer. Sky47 plans phased deployment across Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, while DAMO Academy and Ignite will work to build embodied intelligence capacity at Pakistani universities through online courses, workshops and developer community activities.
To expand digital commerce, Alibaba.com and SMEDA will provide AI‑powered trade training to 10,000 Pakistani businesses using Alibaba.com’s enterprise AI agent Accio Work, and onboard at least 2,000 SMEs to a dedicated Pakistan Pavilion to connect local sellers with more than 50 million global buyers. Services including Trade Assurance and Verified Supplier certification are expected to strengthen buyer confidence and accelerate export growth for small and medium enterprises.
In the financial inclusion space, Koko Tech, part of the Daraz Group, signed an agreement with Ignite to introduce a Buy Now Pay Later solution operating as an NBFC in Pakistan. Koko Tech plans to invest US$ 3 million to scale digital payment services nationwide and create jobs, supporting broader goals for technology innovation and inclusive economic growth.
This Alibaba partnership is designed to accelerate Pakistan’s digital transformation by strengthening AI and cloud capabilities, improving healthcare screening, enabling SME access to global markets and widening access to digital financial services, with a strong emphasis on local skills development and sustainable impact.
