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After the absence of Pakistani content on platforms such as Netflix recently reemerged in public discourse, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal announced that the government was in talks to get Pakistan its due share.

In a post shared on X on Sunday, the minister said Pakistani films and dramas were “second to none, commanding immense demand and heartfelt appreciation across the globe”. He said the entertainment industry was a “vital cornerstone for our national export strategy” under his ministry’s Uraan Pakistan programme.

Uraan Pakistan is an initiative focusing on the government’s 5Es National Economic Transformation Plan — Exports, E-Pakistan, Environment & Climate Change, Energy & Infrastructure and Equity & Empowerment.

He said global Over the Top (OTT) platforms were “critical gateways” to get Pakistani content to international audiences, but “they have unfortunately been weaponised by regional politics for too long, denying Pakistani content its rightful, due space”.

The minister said the government was “in talks with Netflix and other global streaming giants to adjust the regional framework”. The goal, he said, was to “secure an equitable share of space and open sustainable partnership avenues for Pakistani creators”.

Additionally, he said the government was also working to launch an indigenous OTT platform to take Pakistan’s films and TV shows to the world.

Salman Iqbal, the CEO of ARY Digital, seemed more keen on the latter proposal. Responding to the minister’s post, he said Pakistan should not be relying on others.

Championing the development of a homegrown streaming platform, he said they had already worked very hard to popularise Pakistani media in the world and the country had the necessary technology and creative skill to make it happen.

The media mogul said ARY Digital had been approached by Netflix for content but had refused the streaming giant’s advances. He said the audience for Urdu content was over a billion people, enough for Pakistan to chart its own path forward.

Earlier, filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar had raised the same concerns as the minister about a “neighbouring country” using its political influence to sideline Pakistani content on OTT platforms.

She said she was hopeful things would change in the future, especially with Pakistan’s first Netflix show, which she said “will come out in the next year or so”.