Pakistanis see Microsoft move as more than a corporate exit. ‘So much for economic boom’

Jawwad Rehman, Microsoft’s former country head in Pakistan, sees the company’s exit as a reflection of a deteriorating environment for foreign businesses.

Representational image | Reuters

New Delhi: Microsoft stopped its operations in Pakistan Friday, after a 25-year presence in the country. Pakistanis see it as a sign of the declining economic condition of the country. “Even global giants like Microsoft find it unsustainable to stay,” Jawwad Rehman, Microsoft’s former country head in Pakistan, wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Former Pakistan President Arif Alvi, in a post on X, said that the country was swimming “in a whirlpool of uncertainty” while tech experts argue that shifts of this sort will not impact Pakistan’s tech ecosystem.

“By focusing on tactical incidents like a multinational leaving, people are not focusing on strategic events like Pakistan’s DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) age, which will usher in a multi-hundred billion dollar digital economy,” Habibullah Khan, CEO of Penumbra, a digital design studio, and an expert on Pakistan’s digital economy, told The Print.

Microsoft’s departure comes amid a broader wave of restructuring, with the company recently announcing layoffs impacting approximately 9,100 employees worldwide—about 4 per cent of its workforce. Though there was never a full-scale office in the country, it had maintained a liaison setup supporting corporate, educational, governmental, and individual clients.

According to Pakistan’s IT ministry, the closure aligns with Microsoft’s global shift toward a “partner-led, cloud-first” model. The ministry emphasised that this should not be seen as a total withdrawal but rather a strategic realignment.

However, Pakistan represented only an estimated $50 million, or 0.018 per cent of Microsoft’s revenue. Many feel the symbolic weight of the company’s exit is heavier than the financial figures suggest.

Rehman took to LinkedIn to call the move “more than a corporate exit”, describing it as a reflection of a deteriorating environment for foreign businesses.

“We must ask: What changed? What was lost? What happened to the values, leadership, and vision that once made it all possible?” he wrote.

Rehman urged Pakistan’s IT ministry to engage proactively with Microsoft’s global leadership with a bold, KPI-driven roadmap to retain future collaboration.

A message to investors

There are now debates on whose fault it is—an unstable regime, political masters, or a lack of a tech plan.

In his X post, Alvi recalled a pivotal moment in February 2022, when Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates visited Pakistan. According to him, Gates had facilitated a direct line between then-Prime Minister Imran Khan and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to announce a major investment, a plan that collapsed following the change in government later that year. By October 2022, Microsoft had chosen Vietnam over Pakistan for its regional expansion.

“Regime change upended those plans, and the promise of investment slipped away,” Alvi wrote.

“Pakistan now spirals in a whirlpool of uncertainty. There is increasing joblessness, our talent is migrating abroad, purchasing power has reduced, economic recovery in the ‘awami’ context feels like a distant & elusive dream,” he added.

Khan, however, emphasised a deeper strategic pivot: Pakistan’s digital future doesn’t hinge solely on the presence of multinational companies. Instead, he pointed to the importance of building robust DPI—platforms for digital identity, payments, and data exchange—as seen in India, Estonia, and Singapore.

“Pakistan’s digital stack is nearly complete. Once UPI, digital ID, and data exchange are integrated, we will witness a tech ecosystem boom. We could see a 400 per cent surge in e-commerce and exponential growth in digital payments. That’s the real story, not whether Microsoft keeps an office here,” he said.

Still, critics argue that Microsoft’s exit sends a discouraging message to global investors. Sayed Z Bukhari, former advisor to Imran Khan, noted that just a few years ago, Microsoft was expanding under the PTI government. “Today, wrong regime, wrong indicators, wrong direction prevail in Pakistan,” he wrote on X.

“This move sends a troubling signal to international investors and raises serious concerns about the country’s business climate. When global tech giants exit, it reflects deep-rooted governance and policy issues-a loss that not only damages Pakistan’s reputation but also weakens its digital and economic future,” read a post by PTI’s Canada handle.

Journalist Ihtisham ul Haq wrote a sarcastic message. “‘Mulk kaafi oopar jaa raha hai (The country is progressing),’” read the post.

Dentist and activist Dr Awab Alvi had something to say about the government.

“So much for the economic boom hype. With Uber & many others exiting, Pakistan’s economy is crumbling despite this fascist govt’s desperate attempts to convince us otherwise with hollow promises,” he wrote.

A parody account of Pakistan COAS Asim Munir on X, referencing Pakistan’s turbulent self-image, summed up the mood.

“First Uber, now Microsoft — the great momin nation with Arab-Turkic-Persian-Indus Valley high-IQ white genes… who just dislodged India as Amreeka’s BFF.”

First Uber, now Microsoft exits Pakistan — the great momin nation with Arab-Turkic-Persian-Indus valley high iq white genes, with no terrorism, winner of every war in history text book and who just dislodged India as Amreeka’s BFF 🫠 pic.twitter.com/otgnzQlueR

— Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir's Ego (@JungjooGernail) July 3, 2025

(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)