ahore recently hosted the second episode of what could well be called the biggest annual tech event in the country. Future Fest 2023 thus ushered in the new year with great pomp and show.

The three-day event, which was held at Expo Centre, hosted over 100,000 people, around 250 speakers and more than 500 national and international companies or their representatives. It brought the startup and tech community of Pakistan together under one roof. The idea was to “collaborate, innovate and inspire.”

Reportedly, 50 MoUs worth $100 million were signed with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during the course of the festival. Equally exciting was the announcement by Prince Fahad bin Mansour Al Saud the decision to establish a Saudi-Pak Tech House that would help facilitate business opportunities between the two nations.

The event was a sequel to the one held last year.

In his keynote address, the CEO and founder of Future Fest, Arzish Azam, said, “This is just the beginning. I encourage you to explore the vision of the future and take the reins and make it your own. […] The future is a blank canvas waiting for us to paint upon it. It’s a mystery and adventure of endless possibilities waiting to start.”

The festival comes at a high point in tech sector in Pakistan which is seeing an unprecedented boom. According to Techshaw, the Pakistani startup industry received funding worth $59 million, $359 million and $345 million in the years 2019, 2021, and 2022, respectively.

The slogan of Future Fest 2023 was, The Future Is Now. The event witnessed historic Saudi participation, with renowned companies like Diggipacks, Tracking.me and Hala. Other prominent international companies and organisations that were part of the festival included Deed from the US and Everest Square Capital from the Netherlands.

The stated purpose of the festival was to learn and connect. This was made possible via sharing of keynotes, master classes, and panel discussions by top industry people. The topics discussed at the sessions ranged from Web 3.0 to policy, governance and individual brand building.

In a discussion, Abdel Karim Samakie, innovation driven enterprise director at Digital Cooperation Organisation, spoke of initiating a startup visa and enabling cross-border expansion of startups and SMEs across the DCO member states. The goal is to let talent navigate between the countries.

Talking to TNS about the power of connecting people and the event’s outcomes, the director of partnerships for Fesset, Saba Kalsoom said: “Networking across borders and industries helps refine ideas and scale to the right market. The work you do brings 10x results when you get to connect with the right people e. Events like Future Fest are paving the way for potential opportunities bringing people from across Pakistan and on a global scale.”

One of the most exciting panel discussions included Abdel Karim Samakie, the innovation driven enterprise director at Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO); Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, the additional foreign secretary for the Middle East; and Faisal Sultan, the vice-president and managing director of Lucid.

Samakie talked about the efforts to initiate a startup visa and

enable cross-border expansion of startups and SMEs across the DCO member states. According to him, the goal was to let talent navigate between countries so that every member state could benefit from the other’s talent.

Sheikh pressed on the significance of the efforts to establish the Pak-Saudi Digital Corridor. Pakistan will likely go into joint branding of IT with Saudi Arabia. Pakistan’s talented human capital and Saudi’s eagerness to finance tech opportunities will “... bring about a change,” he said.

“Nothing short of a revolution,” commented journalist Raza Rumi, who was also part of the panel discussion.

Amidst the country’s economic turmoil, the festival’s message was clear for everyone with its signature hashtag SaveTheFuture. From founders who wanted to expand their businesses to university students who wanted to be inspired, Future Fest 2023 served as a cultivating ground for everyone. It has become a platform where investors and companies become acquainted, and industry pioneers offer their knowledge and experience like an open book. The startup ecosystem of Pakistan has definitely become a force to reckon with.

The writer is an ex-serviceman and a freelancer. He can be reached at shaafayzia@gmail.com