In October 2024, Pakistan stepped onto the biggest stage in world technology and came away with a title of its own. At GITEX Global 2024, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 14 to 18 October 2024, the show’s organisers named the country Pakistan Tech Destination of the Year, an official designation that placed Pakistan at the centre of the event’s branding, stages and meeting rooms. Two years on, it remains one of the clearest international endorsements Pakistan’s technology industry has ever received, and it anchors this entry in our World Ranking series.
A Record-Breaking Stage in Dubai
GITEX Global 2024 was the 44th edition of the world’s largest technology and startup show, and by the organisers’ own count it was the most international edition in its history. More than 6,500 exhibitors, 1,800 startups and 1,200 investors took part, alongside governments from more than 180 countries, and around 200,000 visitors passed through the Dubai World Trade Centre over five days. To be singled out at an event of that scale is a statement in itself.
The designation itself was not a prize handed out on the night. It was an official country designation conferred by the GITEX Global organisers and announced by the Pakistan Software Export Board on 3 September 2024, more than a month before the doors opened, with PSEB receiving it on behalf of Tech Destination Pakistan, the national brand that promotes the country’s IT industry abroad. The package that came with it was practical rather than ceremonial: enhanced branding and visibility for Pakistan across GITEX digital and print platforms, prominent featuring on the event’s official channels, and multiple speaking opportunities for Pakistani representatives at the conferences running alongside the exhibition. In simple terms, for one week in October 2024, the world’s largest tech gathering introduced Pakistan to its audience before almost anyone else.
From One Hall in 1981 to the World’s Largest Tech Show
GITEX has not always operated at this scale. The show began in December 1981 as the Gulf Computer Exhibition, occupying a single hall of the Dubai World Trade Centre and welcoming around 3,000 guests. It took the GITEX name in 1988, passed 10,000 participants by 1989, and drew 125,000 attendees by its 25th anniversary edition in 2006. By 2010 it ranked among the largest ICT exhibitions in the world, and in 2022 it was renamed GITEX GLOBAL as sister editions were launched in Africa, Europe and Asia. That year’s show set records of its own, with more than 5,000 companies and 170,000 attendees. Four decades of growth are what gave a designation at the 44th edition its weight: by 2024, GITEX was where the global technology industry, and the governments courting it, came to be seen.
Inside the Pakistan Pavilion
At the heart of the effort stood the Tech Destination Pakistan Pavilion, organised by the Pakistan Software Export Board with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and inaugurated on the first day by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi. The pavilion covered 156 square metres, and according to PSEB’s post-event report it showcased 26 of Pakistan’s leading IT companies, presenting work in artificial intelligence, data analytics, blockchain, cloud services, cybersecurity, mobility and sustainable technology.
The pavilion was only part of the footprint. The Pakistan Software Houses Association put the total at 80 Pakistani companies participating across the event, and PSEB described a delegation of more than 200 companies, startups and industry experts, one of the largest national representations at the show. PSEB also sponsored the Connexions Lounge, a dedicated networking space where exhibitors held meetings with potential investors and collaborators. On the first evening, Pakistan Night, an official side event of GITEX, brought together business delegates from the USA, Egypt, Iran, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Korea and the UAE, while acting PSEB chief executive Zeeshan Khattak met UAE Minister of Tolerance Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan during the week.
Pakistan Tech Destination of the Year: The Business That Followed
The billing was never only ceremonial. In its annual report, PSEB recorded that GITEX Global 2024 generated USD 10,543,000 in business for Pakistani companies, secured 1,231 leads and produced 9 signed MoUs, figures the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication repeated in its Year Book 2024-25. Few trade show appearances anywhere in the world come with a scorecard that specific, and reporting from the show floor, including the Express Tribune’s account of the major agreements Pakistani firms signed in Dubai, told the same story.
Individual deals reported during the week point in the same direction. Systems Limited signed an MoU with EVAM, TallyMarks Consulting partnered with global cybersecurity firm Obrela to offer its services in Pakistan through its local subsidiary, Integrians Cybersecurity Solutions, and Premier Cables secured a fresh fibre optic cable order from Etisalat. Ambassador Tirmizi called the show a “great show” for Pakistani firms, and P@SHA chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed described the recognition as a game-changer for the industry. Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja said she was “absolutely delighted and proud” at the declaration, calling it a partnership that highlights Pakistan’s commitment to innovation, technology and global collaboration.
The Sector That Sent the Delegation
The delegation did not arrive from nowhere. Pakistan’s IT and ITeS exports had climbed from $2.596 billion in FY2022-23 to $3.223 billion in FY2023-24, according to State Bank of Pakistan figures, and the sector already accounted for about 45 percent of the country’s total services exports. Behind the pavilion stood a small ecosystem with defined roles: PSEB, the government’s apex body for promoting the IT industry, which runs the Tech Destination Pakistan brand; P@SHA, the industry association representing the companies on the show floor; and the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication setting policy. Since June 2023 they have also worked alongside the Special Investment Facilitation Council, the single-window body created to fast-track investment, which counts information technology among its five priority sectors. The Dubai showing was, in that sense, the public face of a coordinated national pitch.
Why the 2024 Title Still Matters
The honour also landed at a turning point in Pakistan’s technology story. In FY2024-25, the financial year in which GITEX Global 2024 took place, Pakistan’s IT and ITeS exports climbed to a record $3.812 billion, up 18 percent from $3.223 billion a year earlier, and the momentum since has been powered by the same talent base that filled the Dubai halls. It is the base that later delivered record quarters at home, including the period when Pakistan’s freelancers earned $550 million in a single quarter.
A year later, Pakistan went back to prove the point. GITEX Global 2025, the 45th edition, ran from 13 to 17 October 2025 and grew larger still, with more than 6,800 exhibitors spread across two venues, the Dubai World Trade Centre and Dubai Harbour. Pakistan’s Tech Destination Pavilion returned with it: around 100 leading Pakistani tech companies took part, 26 of them under the PSEB and TDAP umbrella, alongside 10 ministry-backed startups at North Star, the show’s startup event, and more than 1,000 C-level delegates. PSEB’s own invitation to companies made the link explicit, saying the board was capitalising on the 2024 edition’s Tech Destination of the Year recognition and the leads worth USD 10.5 million it had produced. The exports kept pace too, with P@SHA, citing State Bank data, putting ICT export remittances at $4.6 billion for FY2025-26, and monthly earnings still setting records, including Pakistan’s IT exports hitting $435 million in September 2026.
Pakistan’s technology firms have kept showing up on the world’s biggest stages since, from Dubai to the Pakistan Pavilion in San Francisco, and the country keeps collecting the kind of recognition this series exists to record, in the same spirit as Quaid-i-Azam University holding its place in the world’s top 400. Through all of it, the Pakistan Tech Destination of the Year title from GITEX Global 2024 is still the reference point, the week the world’s largest tech show told its 200,000 visitors that Pakistan is where technology is going.
Sources
- Pakistan Software Export Board (Tech Destination Pakistan), official press release on GITEX Global 2024
- Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, Government of Pakistan
- PSEB Annual Report (business generated, leads and MoUs at GITEX Global 2024)
- SAMENA Council, reporting Dawn: 80 Pakistani companies participate in GITEX Global 2024
- Express Tribune: Pakistan recognized as Tech Destination of the Year at GITEX Global 2024
- GITEX Global official: record international participation at the 2024 edition
- TecSpectrum: Pakistani tech firms sign major deals at GITEX 2024
- Pakistan Software Export Board, 3 September 2024: Pakistan named Tech Destination of the Year (the designation and what it included)
- PSEB magazine: Pakistan Recognized as the Tech Destination of the Year (designation by the show organisers; Systems Limited and EVAM; TallyMarks and Obrela)
- Express Tribune: Pakistani tech firms sign major agreements at Dubai’s GITEX exhibition
- GITEX, Wikipedia: history of the exhibition, from the 1981 Gulf Computer Exhibition to GITEX GLOBAL
- GITEX GLOBAL official: about the event (2025 edition across two venues, 40+ halls)
- Pakistan Software Export Board: Pakistan’s IT exports reach record high of $3.8 billion in FY2024-25
- Techjuice, reporting State Bank figures: IT exports in FY2022-23, FY2023-24 and FY2024-25
- SAMENA Council: Pakistan’s IT exports hit US$3.8 billion in FY 2024-25 (about 45 percent of total services exports)
- UNCTAD Investment Policy Monitor: Pakistan establishes the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), June 2023
- Press Information Department, PR No. 101, 13 October 2025: Pakistan Pavilion inaugurated at GITEX Global 2025
- Press Information Department, PR No. 135, 16 October 2025: Pakistan showcases digital transformation at GITEX Global 2025
- Pakistan Software Export Board: GITEX Global 2025 participation (capitalising on the 2024 recognition and leads worth USD 10.5 million)
- P@SHA Industry Overview: ICT services exports of US$4.60 billion in FY2025-26 (provisional, State Bank of Pakistan)
- Featured photo: Pakistan Pavilion at GITEX Global 2024 in Dubai. Photo credit: Pakistan Software Export Board (Tech Destination Pakistan), via techdestination.com
Umar is an engineer by profession and a passionate writer by passion. He has a deep interest in sharing good news related to Pakistan and has been working hard to promote the positive image of his homeland. Umar has written numerous articles on various topics related to Pakistan, such as technology, sports, culture, and economy.