Chairman of the Prime Minister's Youth Programme, Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan has said that Pakistan's National Artificial Intelligence Policy provides a roadmap for transforming the country into a knowledge-based economy.

He was addressing a high-level discussion on "AI and the Future of Sustainable Development: Innovation, Inclusion and Resilience" on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum 2026, convened by the Permanent Missions of Pakistan and Tajikistan together with the Prime Minister's Youth Programme.

Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan said that by 2030, Pakistan aims to train one million AI professionals, develop ten thousand trainers and educators, introduce AI education from school to university, establish AI Centres of Excellence, create a National AI Fund and strengthen university-industry collaboration.

He said the AI for Youth Programme, launched in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat and Intel Corporation, is equipping young Pakistanis with knowledge of AI fundamentals, ethics, project development and responsible innovation.

He said that the Prime Minister's Youth Programme and Stanford University AI Enterprise Product Programme are further developing advanced AI capabilities among Pakistani MPhil and PhD scholars in science and technology.

In his keynote remarks, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan Abdurahmon Abdurahmonzoda highlighted that Tajikistan has adopted Central Asia's first National Artificial Intelligence Strategy up to 2040 and declared 2025-2030 as the Years of Development of the Digital Economy and Innovation.

He said the country has also spearheaded the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution on AI and sustainable development in Central Asia and launched the Regional Artificial Intelligence Centre (IT HUB DUSHANBE) to promote regional collaboration, research, innovation and digital skills development.

The event brought together UN officials, diplomats, AI experts, academics, youth leaders and representatives of Member States to exchange ideas on harnessing AI responsibly for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.