Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will hold joint workshops to align Pakistan’s national IT strategy with Saudi Vision 2030. Federal IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja announced the initiative at LEAP 2026 in Riyadh. The workshops will cover artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data governance, digital skills and technology exports. Both countries also agreed to strengthen cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity cooperation while exploring business partnerships. Pakistan aims to attract Saudi investment, expand technology exports and accelerate its digital transformation through closer bilateral collaboration.

Pakistan’s freelance export earnings are expected to exceed $2.5 billion during the current fiscal year, according to the Pakistan Freelancers Association. More than three million Pakistani freelancers earned $1.76 billion last year and generated $175 million in July alone. Pakistan is reportedly the world’s fourth-largest emerging freelancing market. The association urged the government to exempt active educational YouTube platforms from the 5% tax or reduce it to 1%, arguing that supportive policies could expand freelancing and strengthen Pakistan’s IT services exports.

WhatsApp parental controls have been made easier to access on iPhone through a dedicated option in the iOS settings menu. Parents are guided through setup using a QR code or invite, while controls can be applied to contacts, groups, unknown message requests and setting changes. Channels, Status and Meta AI are disabled for child accounts, while end-to-end encryption is retained. Accounts can also be kept under parental supervision for up to 12 months after the standard minimum age is reached.