ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday inaugurated the country’s “largest” data centre and Sky 47 Karakoram One AI cloud in Islamabad, terming the state-of-the-art facility “awe-inspiring” and describing it as Pakistan’s doorway to a dynamic, forward-looking digital future.
The project, built with a capacity of 8.5 megawatts, was completed in record time, the Prime Minister noted in his address, showcasing the best minds from across Pakistan in both the military and civilian sectors.
وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف اور چیف آف آرمی سٹاف و چیف آف ڈیفنس فورسز فیلڈ مارشل سید عاصم منیر نےپاکستان کے سب سے بڑے ڈیٹا سینٹر اور اے آئی کلاؤڈ سکائی 47 قراقرم ون کا افتتاح کر دیا. وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف نے افتتاحی تقریب سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ متحرک، ترقی پسند اور شاندار… pic.twitter.com/njrL9KNFCQ
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PakPMO) July 24, 2026
He commended the leadership of Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, under whose supervision the facility was constructed.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Sharif said it was a privilege and an honour to be part of the event. “The facility we have just visited is awe-inspiring,” he added, expressing confidence that similar data centres would also be built in Karachi and Lahore in the near future.
“The future of Pakistan”: PM envisions digital transformation
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif characterised the data centre as “the future of Pakistan”, urging all state organs to immediately align with the facility, which he called a “wonderful gift to the people of Pakistan”. He emphasised that the centre offers “impregnable security” and provides hope and encouragement that “everything is doable provided we put our act together.”
Reflecting on Pakistan’s challenges, the Prime Minister invoked the example of Marka-i-Haq, which he called the “finest moment in Pakistan’s history”, stating that such events proved that “if there is a will, there is a way.” Despite difficulties, he stressed the importance of having the “will to negotiate” and “the ardent hope and the energy to turn that into a great opportunity.”
“I am hopeful that if we follow this model, there is no reason, and I am absolutely convinced, more than ever before, that not only will we be able to make up for the losses of the past, but we will also create a new, dynamic and forward-looking Pakistan, which is the need of the hour,” Shehbaz Sharif declared.
Sky47 expands with Karachi data centre, IT minister outlines vision
Sky47 is also developing a 5MW data centre at Karachi’s Port Qasim, slated for completion in September, further expanding Pakistan’s digital infrastructure footprint.
Pakistan’s Minister for IT and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja termed the data centre “a step in the right direction”, stating that it provided Pakistan with the foundation of an infrastructure “capable of producing the most important economic unit today: token intelligence.”
She noted that every future opportunity, in healthcare, agriculture, economy, financial services, education, public administration, and national security, would rely on access to high-performance computing.
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Citing global projections, the IT Minister noted that according to McKinsey, global demand for data centres would triple by 2030, while Goldman Sachs predicted power requirements would rise by 160 per cent by the same year.
“This is where Pakistan’s opportunity is extraordinary,” she said. “We’re a young nation, we’re a large nation, and we’re a nation of stunning human capability.”
She highlighted that Pakistan’s engineers, developers, researchers, and entrepreneurs did not lack intelligence or ambition, but rather infrastructure, which the new data centre would now provide.
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From infrastructure, she traced a path through model development, orchestration, and application to the marketplace, where AI capability could be provided “as a service” to fulfill national requirements.
Khawaja also acknowledged Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s efforts over the last two years under his “Digital Nation Pakistan” vision, including the 5G spectrum auction earlier this year, doubling of undersea fibre capability, right-of-way reforms for broadband access, AI skills initiatives, and a network of AI startups supported by national incubation centres across Pakistan.
