{
  "id": 1737682,
  "title": "PM Shehbaz meets Google delegation, inaugurates company's Pakistan office",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/pm-shehbaz-meets-google-delegation-inaugurates-companys-pakistan",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T09:01:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Express Tribune - Pakistan",
    "slug": "the-express-tribune-pakistan",
    "url": "https://tribune.com.pk/story/2624586/pm-shehbaz-meets-google-delegation-inaugurates-companys-pakistan-office"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with a Google delegation to inaugurate the tech giant's local office in Pakistan. Speaking at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad, Sharif highlighted the potential for strengthening the partnership with Google in various ways, noting that it was a coincidence that Google was there at a time of significant digital transformation in Pakistan. He emphasized that Pakistan's youthful population could help turn the country's fortunes around, but more work was needed.\n\nSharif described today as a great day for the partnership and a stepping stone to a long journey of contributing to the field of digital transformation. He expressed gratitude to the delegation for visiting Pakistan and added that empowering the youth through modern tools and technology was a priority.\n\nGoogle Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy Wilson L. White thanked the Prime Minister and stated that the company had been investing in Pakistan for over a decade. He emphasized that opening a local office was a special moment for Google, as it aligned with the company's goal of making Pakistan a $30 billion IT export hub. White outlined three ways Google was contributing to this goal: investing in the Pakistani people, manufacturing and infrastructure for hardware exports, and supporting local businesses.\n\nSharif inaugurated the Google office, and White noted that the digital transformation in Pakistan would only be successful with proper investment in people. The company has contributed to upskilling one million Pakistanis through career certificates and supporting schools and teachers to prepare Pakistanis for the digital economy. Google plans to make Google Gemini subscriptions free for one year for all students later in the week. In November 2025, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja had announced that Google would manufacture approximately 600,000 Chromebooks annually in Pakistan, marking a significant milestone for the country's technology sector.",
  "summary": "Google VP announces to make Google Gemini subscriptions free for one year for all Pakistani students",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}