Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses the inauguration ceremony of Sky47 AI cloud and data center in Islamabad on Friday. SCREENSHOT
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed authorities to take immediate and effective steps to make the facilities of the new federal government-run national central data center, Sky 47, available to all federal institutions.
He also directed that a meeting of the National Digital Commission be convened at the earliest to take all stakeholders, including provinces, into confidence regarding the policy.
Established under the Digital Nation Pakistan Act 2025, the commission is headed by the Prime Minister, while all provincial chief ministers are members.
The Prime Minister said a single, integrated national data center for the public sector would provide a centralized platform for data from all government institutions, helping to eliminate the need for separate data centers and leading to significant savings in national resources.
Daanian schools
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the Daanish Authority Board that all schools in Daanish under construction be completed within the stipulated time, without any delay being tolerated in the process.
The Prime Minister chaired the first meeting of the Daanish Authority Council, during which he issued a series of directives aimed at expanding quality education opportunities for underprivileged children across the country, a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Welcoming the board members and participants, the Prime Minister thanked them for accepting this important responsibility, saying that providing equal education and development opportunities to economically disadvantaged children remained a top priority of the government.
FBR Reforms
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday ordered relevant authorities to identify and take strict legal action against individuals and companies involved in the informal economy and tax evasion.
Chairing a weekly meeting to review FBR reforms, the Prime Minister directed to develop a comprehensive and scientific methodology for estimating tax potential in different sectors.
The Prime Minister was briefed about the installation of FBR’s production monitoring system, reforms implemented in human resource management and measures to improve operational efficiency. He was informed that the monitoring system was fully operational in the sugar, cement, tobacco, tiles and fertilizer sectors.
“Implementation is in its final stages in five additional sectors with an estimated fiscal potential exceeding Rs 700 billion.”
Participants were further informed that work was underway with nine manufacturing sectors to design and implement tracking systems, enabling the government to tap an additional fiscal potential of Rs 560 billion.
During the briefing on human resource reforms, it was stated that newly recruited officers receive training at one of the country’s leading universities, with a strong emphasis on merit and performance.
To strengthen transparency, 957 third-party auditors have been appointed. Meanwhile, the process of recruiting 280 goods assessors under the faceless customs system is underway, with merit and transparency being given priority.
The faceless system has not only reduced the time taken for customs clearance and movement of goods, but also improved revenue collection.
The meeting was further informed that a case review committee is being established to reduce unnecessary tax disputes. The committee will decide, on the merits, whether tax lawsuits should be filed.
Similarly, under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees (ADRC), 152 of the 377 applications received till June 2026 were resolved within 90 days, resulting in recovery of Rs54 billion in tax revenue.
