South Asia Investor Review

President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have met today in Beijing to reaffirm the "unbreakable" bond between their two "iron brother" countries on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Pakistan diplomatic ties. "No matter how the international landscape may evolve, China will always place priority on the development of China-Pakistan relations in its diplomacy with neighboring countries," he said. Over 7 decades of friendship witnessed Pakistan help bring about the US-China rapprochement that has enabled the Asian giant to grow from international isolation to what President Donald Trump recently declared part of "G2", the exclusive group of two real superpowers in the world today. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's three-day visit to China has seen the signing of multiple agreements to further strengthened strategic and economic relations between two Asian neighbors. These deals are aimed at developing Pakistan...

Digital transactions in Pakistan soared 31.1% to Rs. 88 trillion or $500 Billion in fiscal year 2020-21, according to the nation's top central banker. “If the figure is $500 billion now, you can imagine the pace at which we are digitizing,” said Dr. Baqir Raza, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, adding that those transactions showed a year-on-year growth of 30.6% in volume and 31.1% in value. The nation's central bank also reported that the large-value payments segment, known as Real-time Inter-Bank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM),  saw growth of 60% by volume and 12.8% by value to Rs. 444.6 trillion or $2.5 trillion in FY 2020-21. There are several factors driving rapid shift to digital technology, including expanding digital infrastructure,  new technologies  and the government's efforts to document Pakistan's huge  undocumented economy . Grey-listing of Pakistan by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has also played a role.  Internet & Mobile Banking...

Eminent Pakistani economist Dr. Nadeemul Haq (no relation to Riaz Haq) interviewed Riaz Haq last week for his podcast " Soch Bichar " to talk about the subject of "Digitization in Pakistan" in Urdu. Here is a summary of the interview: Dr. Nadeemul Haq: How do you define "digitization"?  Riaz Haq: To me,  digitization  on a national scale is pervasive use of digital technologies in all aspects of life: business, trade, industry, media, finance, government, education, sports, entertainment, military, etc etc. NH: What is happening in Pakistan on digitization? RH: Jahangir Tareen, a close aide to Prime Minister Imran Khan, has recently announced the hiring of a woman of Pakistani origin who is currently working for Google in Singapore. He said she will lead the  digitization effort  in Pakistan from the Prime Minister's office. NH: Is digitization possible in Pakistan? RH: Yes, it is possible. Digitization requires digital infrastructure an...

Pakistan's digital gig economy growth is the fastest in Asia and fourth fastest in the world, according to digital payments platform  Payoneer . Gig Economy Growth in Q2/2019. Source: Payoneer United States led gig economy growth of 78% followed by the United Kingdom 59%, Brazil 48%, Pakistan 47% and Ukraine 36%. Asia growth was led by Pakistan followed by Philippines (35%) , India  (29%) and Bangladesh (27%). The rapid gig economy expansion of 47% in Pakistan  was fueled by several factors including the country's very  young population  70% of which is under 30 years of age coupled with improvements in  science and technical education  and expansion of  high-speed broadband  access.  Pakistani freelancers under the age of 35 generated 77% of the revenue in second quarter of 2019. Growth in Freelance Work. Source: Payoneer Mohsin Muzaffar, head of business development at Payoneer in Pakistan, has said as follows: "Governme...

A top official of the State Bank of Pakistan, the nation's central bank, announced that the institution aims to issue a digital currency (Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC) by 2025, according to media reports.   Speaking at the launch of regulations of Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), central bank officials said that EMIs will be non-bank entities to be licensed by the central bank to issue e-money for the purpose of digital payments.  Pakistan's finance minister Asad Umar and the central bankers said they are targeting Pakistan's economy to go fully digital by 2030. “As we move towards digital economy, it is absolutely important to ensure cybersecurity,” said the finance minister, according to Dawn newspaper .  Mr. Umar added that even a single high profile incident could cause irreparable loss of confidence to the economy and the banking system. Deputy Governor Jameel Ahmad of the State Bank of Pakistan told the audience at the EMI launch that the c...