Pakistan and Alibaba Group have discussed plans to move earlier digital cooperation agreements into practical e-commerce, training and startup-support programmes for young Pakistanis, officials said, according to a Gwadar Pro's report.

Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, met senior Alibaba executives in Beijing to review projects linked to MoUs signed during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China.

The discussions focused on cross-border e-commerce, digital skills, entrepreneurship and innovation. Under the proposed cooperation, Pakistani youth entrepreneurs, artisans and small businesses would be encouraged to use Alibaba platforms, including Alibaba.com, AliExpress and Lazada, to reach international buyers.

The two sides also discussed training programmes through Alibaba Cloud and related education platforms.

These would cover data analytics, artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure and digital marketing, with the aim of helping young Pakistanis build skills needed for online business and technology-driven jobs.

Startup support was also part of the talks. The cooperation is expected to help connect young Pakistani entrepreneurs with Alibaba’s wider innovation ecosystem, including mentorship, incubation and exposure to digital business models.

Pakistan, with a large youth population and rising internet use, is seeking to expand digital employment, support small businesses and increase participation in global online trade.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP) — Pak-China