Commerce Ministry moves to build AI-enabled digital trade ecosystem

August 21, 2026 (MLN): The Ministry of Commerce is moving to develop a secure, integrated and AI-enabled digital ecosystem for the ministry and its attached organizations, with plans to strengthen Pakistan's sovereign cloud and data-centre infrastructure, standardize trade data, and deploy artificial intelligence for evidence-based trade and export policymaking.

Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan held separate meetings with representatives of the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) and the management of Sky47 to discuss the plan, which centres on treating government data as a national asset and enabling secure data exchange across departments, said a press release issued.

The Minister noted that the ministry holds extensive data spanning thousands of tariff and product lines, exporters, international markets, trade bodies, chambers of commerce, business associations and overseas trade missions, and said this dispersed information needs to be standardized, integrated and made available to authorized users in secure, decision-friendly formats.

He termed Pakistan's trade data a valuable national asset that must be protected, properly classified and converted into actionable intelligence for exporters, businesses and policymakers.

He called for connecting the ministry's wings, attached departments, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, chambers, trade associations, and Pakistan's trade officers posted in over 55 countries, along with greater integration of the ministry's digital portals to provide a unified view of trade activity and market intelligence.

The PDA briefed the Minister on the emerging national framework for data governance, data exchange, enterprise architecture and cloud adoption, including plans to classify government data into open, shared, restricted and personally identifiable categories while keeping ownership and control with respective ministries and public bodies.

It was agreed that departments should share only the data required for a specific purpose rather than transferring complete datasets, with a proposed exchange mechanism to enable secure, standardized and traceable interdepartmental access while guarding against misuse of confidential information.

Participants also discussed a national digital master plan, under which sector-specific digitalization roadmaps could be developed in coordination with federal and provincial governments, public institutions and the private sector.

The Minister highlighted the scope for AI to analyze trade trends, identify export opportunities and support market-specific policy recommendations, adding that an indigenous AI platform trained on authorized government and sectoral datasets could serve as a powerful tool for economic planning and public service delivery.

The meeting with Sky47 focused on Pakistan's data-centre capacity, sovereign cloud services, cybersecurity, disaster recovery and the rising computing needs linked to AI, with the company briefing the Minister on its data-centre infrastructure and plans to expand secure hosting capacity in the country.

The Minister was informed that modern data centres could deliver internationally aligned, reliable services while cutting the cost and security risks tied to scattered, small-scale departmental facilities.

Discussions also touched on energy-efficient cooling systems, intelligent data storage, metadata management, data-fabric technologies, and the distinct computing needs of conventional applications, AI models and future quantum-computing workloads.

The Minister stressed the need to build adequate local capacity to host critical national data within Pakistan, balancing data sovereignty with continued innovation and investment in cloud computing, AI and digital services.

The discussions further covered reforms to public-sector technology procurement, with participants underlining the need for cloud-procurement frameworks that let government bodies obtain infrastructure, platforms and software as services without lengthy, outdated procedures.

The Minister backed closer coordination among the PDA, Commerce Ministry, PPRA, IPO Pakistan and other stakeholders to support startups and innovators, including fast-track, transparent procurement pathways for prototypes developed in response to government challenges.

The potential launch of an Open Network for Digital Commerce, tailored to Pakistan's needs, was also discussed, with the proposed network envisioned to digitally connect producers, exporters, logistics providers, financial institutions and consumers while creating new opportunities for small and medium enterprises.

The Minister also flagged concerns over the use of publicly available foreign AI platforms for confidential official work, calling for clear guidelines, greater awareness and secure domestic alternatives to prevent sensitive government correspondence and institutional data from reaching unauthorized external systems.

He directed relevant teams to continue technical consultations and develop practical proposals on secure data integration, sovereign cloud adoption, AI-enabled trade intelligence and digital-commerce infrastructure, adding that the ministry would work closely with the PDA, Sky47 and other stakeholders to ensure Pakistan's digital transformation translates into export growth, improved governance, innovation and long-term economic competitiveness.

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