Islamabad, Pakistan – 1 July 2026: Pakistan Software Export Board under the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication (MoITT) has launched its first structured initiative to prepare Pakistani IT companies for the United States State, Local & Education (SLED) procurement market. The initiative is supported by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and delivered by Collab P in collaboration with RedMarker Systems.
The U.S. SLED market represents an estimated USD 1.85 trillion in annual public-sector spending across information technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital government – one of the largest procurement ecosystems in the world.
The inaugural cohort trained 74 Pakistani companies across 76 modules covering U.S. procurement systems, regulatory compliance, and market intelligence.
When the program began, only two Pakistani companies were registered on SAM.gov, the U.S. government’s procurement portal, with zero prime contractor connections between them. By the end of the cohort, more than 20 companies had registered, with over 1,000 prime contractor connections, and together the cohort built a combined pipeline worth USD 22.8 million – an early but telling sign of how transformative this pathway could be for Pakistani companies seeking access to the U.S. public sector.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunication Ms Shaza Fatima Khawaja said the initiative gives Pakistani firms a new pathway to engage with the U.S. public sector:
“Pakistan has earned recognition for its technology talent. This initiative connects that talent with a larger, structured international market where our companies can compete on capability and trust.”
PSEB CEO Mr. Faisal Jeddy said the program equips companies to move from service delivery toward long-term partnerships:
“Expanding into sophisticated procurement markets takes more than technical excellence – companies need to understand how those markets operate. This program gives Pakistani firms the frameworks to pursue U.S. public-sector opportunities.”
This was only the first cohort. PSEB and its partners are already planning the next phase of the program, with the aim of reaching 12,000 learners and building a national SLED economy for Pakistan.
Farhan Esar Shah, CEO of Collab P, said the graduation of the first cohort marks the beginning of a longer effort:
“Structured access into the world’s largest public procurement ecosystem is a new export engine for Pakistan. Our objective is to enable Pakistani companies to move beyond traditional outsourcing toward sustained participation in high-value U.S. government supply chains.”
He added that participating companies are already engaging U.S. prime contractors, and the first subcontracting opportunities have begun to emerge.
The graduation of this first cohort reflects the continued efforts of the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication and PSEB to open new international markets for Pakistan’s technology industry. Building on this foundation, PSEB will continue expanding structured pathways of this kind, positioning Pakistani IT companies to compete in high-value public-sector markets around the world.
