ISLAMABAD: Google has officially opened its first office in Pakistan and announced plans to provide Pakistani students with free one-year subscriptions to its Gemini AI service.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally inaugurated the office during a meeting with Google Vice President Wilson White. US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie A. Baker was also present on the occasion.
Welcoming the Google delegation, the prime minister said the company’s arrival came at a time when Pakistan was undergoing significant digital transformation across various areas of governance.
He highlighted Pakistan’s large youth population, saying young people had the potential to transform the country. While significant progress had been made, he added that much more work was needed to achieve the country’s digital ambitions.
Google vice president Wilson White thanked the prime minister and described his first visit to Pakistan and the opening of Google’s local office as a major milestone.
He said Google had been investing in Pakistan for more than a decade and described the establishment of the local office as a particularly significant moment for the company.
Wilson White said Prime Minister Shehbaz’s ambition to develop Pakistan into a $30 billion IT export hub was aligned with Google’s objectives. Over the past decade, Google had generated more than Rs3.9 trillion in economic activity for Pakistani businesses and households, supporting more than 960,000 jobs, he said.
He stressed that Pakistan’s digital transformation could not succeed without adequate investment in its people. Google, he added, had helped strengthen the skills of more than one million Pakistanis through its Career Certificates programme and partnerships with schools.
Wilson White also announced that Google would offer free one-year Gemini subscriptions to all Pakistani students, with the offer expected to be formally announced later this week.
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