Govt deepens Gates Foundation ties on health, finance, AI

Mettis Global reported that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met a senior Gates Foundation delegation at the Finance Division, citing a press release. Dr Anita Zaidi led the team, which also included Kalpana Kochhar, who outlined the foundation's broader presence in Pakistan. Her remarks covered children's health, nutrition, maternal care and women's economic participation, along with nutrition efforts delivered through the UNICEF Livelihood 2.0 facility, which targets childhood stunting.

Dr Zaidi also spoke about AI applied to maternal care, pointing to a LUMS AI Hub project with provincial governments offering tailored guidance for women during pregnancy and childbirth. The tools are built for low-connectivity settings and basic Android handsets, with local-language support. The foundation's programme in South Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which mixes cash transfers, nutrition support and livelihood training for women, is expected to reach about 170,000 women and 450,000 children this year.

Aurangzeb stressed domestic investor confidence, privatisation, expenditure reform and digital tools for tax audits, and described the Access to Finance agenda, which targets SMEs, farmers and other underserved segments. Foundation representatives welcomed the country's financial sector progress and voiced interest in supporting wider credit access for small firms and shopkeepers through better data flows and cash-flow-based lending. Both sides agreed to strengthen the partnership on inclusion-focused finance and digital innovation, while Aurangzeb pointed to increasing attention on private equity and efforts to deepen that ecosystem.