Overview
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the fourth phase in Islamabad, beginning merit-based distribution of 100,000 laptops to students nationwide.
- He said Saudi Arabia has offered free AI training for Pakistani students and that thousands would be sent for training and jobs tied to Riyadh’s technology push.
- Officials said roughly Rs40–50 billion have been spent on the programme since 2011, and the prime minister signaled readiness to invest up to Rs500 billion in youth education and skills.
- Sharif said the 2025 rollout was delayed earlier after he ordered the removal of a promotional logo from laptop bags that was seen as self-promotion.
- He ordered investigations into sales tax fraud at the FBR and a PRAL forensic audit by an international firm, with a report due in three weeks, as he was briefed on recent PRAL security upgrades.