PM Shehbaz meets Google delegation, inaugurates company's Pakistan office

Google VP announces to make Google Gemini subscriptions free for one year for all Pakistani students

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met with a Google delegation as part of the tech giant's inauguration ceremony for its local office in Pakistan.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad, the premier noted that there was great scope to enhance the partnership with Google "in many ways", adding that it was interesting and a "sheer coincidence" that Google was here at a time when Pakistan was going through a "major digital transformation" in many areas of governance.

"We have a youth bulge, and we can really turn around Pakistan’s fortunes, and we are doing a lot, but a lot more is required to be done," he added.

PM Shehbaz noted that today was a "great day for our partnership" and a "stepping stone to a long journey" of contributing to a field which was the call of the day. "We will empower our youth through modern tools and technology, and I am thankful to you for visiting Pakistan," he added.

Google Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy Wilson L. White thanked the premier and said the company had been investing in and committed to Pakistan for over a decade, adding that to be able to open a local office was a "special moment for us".

"Your ambition of making Pakistan a 30-billion-dollar IT export hub aligns with the goals that we have at Google," White added.

براہِ راست:وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف کی گوگل کے وفد سے ملاقات کے دوران کی گئی گفتگو https://t.co/IeB5rC1Jc2

— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) August 18, 2026

He stated that over the past ten years, "Google has contributed to more than Rs3.9 trillion of economic activity for local Pakistani businesses as well as households in Pakistan, contributing to over 960,000 jobs, and this is just the beginning."

Read: Google begins manufacturing Chromebooks in Haripur

He added that the company was furthering Pakistan's goal of the $30 billion IT export ambition in three ways: "by investing in the Pakistani people, by investing in the manufacturing and infrastructure of exports of hardware and by investing in local businesses".

PM Sharif inaugurates Google’s Pakistan office pic.twitter.com/20RqmqEcr6

— Pakistan TV Digital (@PakistanTVcom) August 18, 2026

White said the digital transformation that was underway in Pakistan would only be successful if the people were invested properly in.

"One of the things that we have been doing is upskilling Pakistanis. We have contributed to the upskilling of one million Pakistanis through career certificates and working with schools and teachers to make sure that Pakistanis are prepared for the digital economy that is on its way," the vice president stated.

White further said that later this week, the tech giant would announce that it would make Google Gemini subscriptions free for one year for all students.

In November 2025, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja had said Google would manufacture approximately 600,000 Chromebooks annually in Pakistan, marking a major milestone for the country’s technology sector.

Khawaja revealed that Google, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence Production and the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation, had begun Chromebook manufacturing in Haripur. Launched as a public-private partnership with a local company, the project was expected to significantly boost Pakistan’s IT manufacturing industry.