By Zulqernain
GITEX Global 2025 concluded in Dubai, but its momentum continues to ripple across the region.
The forty-fifth edition of the world’s largest technology showcase drew more than 250,000 visitors, 6,000 exhibitors and participants from 180 countries. For five days, the city transformed into a vast laboratory of ideas, where governments, startups and global technology leaders exchanged visions of a digital future.
Amid that global energy, Pakistan stood confidently among nations shaping tomorrow’s technologies, with PTCL Group at the forefront of its representation.
Inside the e& pavilion , PTCL Group’s presence carried a sense of purpose. It was not an ordinary corporate showcase. Visitors found themselves in conversations about inclusion, opportunity, and national progress.
Through a carefully designed experience, the Group reflected what a connected Pakistan could look like, a vision where technology and human ambition move forward together.
The pavilion also featured Ba-Ikhtiar, PTCL Group’s flagship women empowerment initiative, which drew attention for its focus on digital and financial inclusion across Pakistan. Beyond the main pavilion, PTCL Group’s collaboration with ConnectHear also made its mark at Expand North Star, GITEX’s dedicated platform for startups and emerging innovators. The initiative highlighted how large enterprises and young changemakers can come together to build a more inclusive digital future for Pakistan.
Over the week, PTCL Group entered into several important collaborations that reflected the depth and diversity of Pakistan’s digital evolution. Each partnership carried a distinct story of progress, from enterprise innovation and industrial transformation to international integration, adding new layers to the country’s growing digital landscape.
Among these milestones was PTCL Group’s agreement with GSMA under the Open Gateway initiative, a global alliance of telecom operators working to simplify and secure the connection between digital services and mobile networks.
The collaboration places Pakistan within a shared international framework that encourages faster innovation and safer digital experiences for businesses and developers across industries.
Another moment of significance came through PTCL Group’s partnership with Cequens, which is introducing Communication Platform as a Service in Pakistan. The new model will allow companies to connect with their customers across SMS, voice, and WhatsApp in one unified experience, transforming how enterprises communicate and strengthening the customer journey in an increasingly digital marketplace.
The collaboration with Mercantile, Apple’s authorised distributor in Pakistan, adds another dimension to this vision. Through a Device as a Service model, the partnership gives businesses the flexibility to adopt the latest Apple technology without heavy upfront costs, encouraging the growth of agile, connected workplaces built for modern demands.
A similar sense of forward momentum defines the partnership with Smart MEP, which will bring Vodafone’s IoT Core Platform to Pakistan.
The initiative introduces advanced tools for industrial automation and real-time data analysis that can improve efficiency across energy, utilities and manufacturing sectors, supporting the nation’s move toward smarter, data-driven industries.
Amid the energy of new ideas and partnerships at GITEX, another story surrounded the PTCL Group. It was about the purpose that gives technology its direction. At the centre of that story is “Dil Se,” the Group’s guiding philosophy that places empathy and human progress at the heart of innovation. For PTCL Group, technology matters most when it improves lives.
This belief continues to shape initiatives that use digital tools to create opportunity, dignity and inclusion across Pakistan.
One of the earliest expressions of this philosophy is Ba-Ikhtiar, a program built on the conviction that women’s economic independence strengthens entire communities. What began as a small pilot in Haripur has grown into a nationwide effort that equips women with digital literacy, entrepreneurship training and access to financial tools. In partnership with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Ba Ikhtiar will now operate in twenty-three flood-affected cities and will support more than two thousand women in developing sustainable livelihoods, reflecting a collective movement toward a more inclusive digital economy led by women.
The same sense of purpose extends to the Group’s work in Thar, where access to clean drinking water has long been a daily struggle. PTCL Group has been installing solar-powered water pumps and filtration systems in drought-hit villages, bringing safe water to thousands of families who once had to walk miles for it. The project received the Gold Dragon Award for Digital Campaigns at the Dragons of Asia Awards this year, which was also celebrated at GITEX. The recognition highlighted how a corporate initiative evolved into a community movement. So far, it has benefited fifteen thousand residents, and the next phase aims to reach more than two hundred thousand people across Thar and South Punjab.
PTCL Group’s focus on inclusion extends to accessibility through its collaboration with ConnectHear, a social enterprise that supports the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Together, they have developed “Suno,” an AI-powered early warning system that converts disaster alerts into sign-language videos and delivers them through Ufone 4G’s WhatsApp Chatbot.
The system ensures that life-saving information reaches everyone, especially during emergencies, and reflects the Group’s belief that digital transformation should never leave anyone behind.
During GITEX, Federal Minister for IT and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja met with Khalifa Shamsi, CEO of e& International, and Hatem Bamatraf, President and Group CEO of PTCL& Ufone 4G.
Their discussion focused on Pakistan’s expanding digital ecosystem and the growing collaboration between global and local technology leaders. The minister appreciated PTCL Group’s efforts to align innovation with inclusion and social impact, noting how initiatives like ConnectHear reflect a more human vision of digital progress.
As GITEX came to a close, the atmosphere around PTCL Group’s space carried a quiet sense of fulfilment. The week had celebrated new partnerships and ideas, but what remained was a clear message.
Pakistan’s digital transformation is already taking shape, built not only on innovation and ambition but also on empathy and purpose.
PTCL Group’s participation in GITEX Global 2025 became a story of a nation finding its digital voice. Every conversation, every collaboration and every initiative reflected a simple truth that technology has the power to transform lives. As Pakistan continues to define its place in the global digital landscape, PTCL Group stands at its heart, telling that story sincerely and always ‘Dil Se’.
