Chinese involvement in Digitalization

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China's Digital Belt Road:

Chinese companies are building a 7,500-mile fiber optic undersea cable, known as Peace Cable, that will connect Pakistan to France via stops along the Horn of Africa and Egypt before it crosses the Mediterranean.

 

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China, Pakistan can promote digital economy under CPEC

BEIJING: High-level and high-quality cooperation between China and Pakistan could boost the sharing of technologies and experience of the digital economy.

It will also facilitate the building of a community of digital economy under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPECD), said a Chinese scholar Prof. Cheng Xizhong, according to China Economic Net (CEN).

Cheng Xizhong stated that Pakistan is known as the land of opportunity as it has tremendous and unmatched potentials. While technology-enabled innovation is the major spur to productive growth, rapid advances in technology are enabling new business opportunities.

As in the case, Pakistan`s efforts on the digital growth path will improve the business environment, attract domestic and foreign investment, and accelerate the development of the national economy.

As he pointed earlier, it was the right choice to go ahead with “Engage Africa”. Prof. Cheng reaffirmed that Pakistan’s commitment to the development of the digital economy is another right choice. One right choice after another entails the wisdom and correctness of the policies made by the Imran Khan administration, which gives Pakistan great hope for fast economic development.

 

[redtom]

I don't see any reason why Pakistan's economy can't grow substantially over the next decade. Pakistan will be China's left shoulder to the world economy in the future. I feel Pakistani friends should invest in real estate.

 

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Chinese tech giant to train Pakistani officials on digitalisation

President urges officials to enhance collaboration with Huawei for early realisation of Digital Pakistan initiative


Xinhua May 03, 2021

Vice President of Huawei Middle East Region Li Xiangyu presenting souvenir to President Arif Alvi at Aiwan-e-Sadr on May 03, 2021. PHOTO: PID

ISLAMABAD: The government will cooperate with Chinese hi-tech giant Huawei to train over 1,000 officials, facilitating the digitalisation of government organisations to enhance the efficiency of work and service delivery, the president's office said on Monday in a statement.

President Arif Alvi had a meeting with a delegation of Huawei, led by Vice President of Huawei Middle East Region Li Xiangyu, on Monday, the statement said.


Alvi asked the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication to develop an action plan and set timelines for launching training programs for the government employees in fields like artificial intelligence, cloud technology and big data.
The president urged the ministry to come up with more innovative ideas and enhance collaboration with Huawei for early realisation of the Digital Pakistan initiative, it added.


During the meeting, Li said Huawei had contributed to Pakistan's economy by providing 10,000 jobs and paying 120 million US dollar in taxes to the Pakistani government from 2018 to 2020, besides spending 6 million US dollars in supporting disaster-relief efforts of the government.

Li said Huawei had also helped foster Pakistan's information and communication technology talents by providing 10,000 certifications till 2020, according to the statement.

Huawei to train Pakistani officials on digitalisation | The Express Tribune

The government will cooperate with Chinese hi-tech giant Huawei to train over 1,000 officials

tribune.com.pk

 

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PTCL signs contracts with Huawei


The Frontier Post

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), has signed strategic contracts with Huawei Technologies Pakistan for the transformation of its IP Edge and Optical Transport Network (OTN).

Nadeem Khan, Acting CEO & Group CFO, PTCL & Ufone and Mark Meng, CEO, Huawei Technologies Pakistan, signed the contract during a ceremony held at PTCL HQ, Islamabad. Jafar Khalid, GCTIO (Development), PTCL & Ufone, Ahmed Bilal Masud, Deputy CEO, Huawei Technologies Pakistan, also attended the ceremony, along with senior management from both organizations.

Aimed to meet the exponential growth in traffic, this transformation involves modernization of existing inter-city and long-haul network, with a state-of-the-art OTN network. Combined with the existing Optical Transport Network backbone, PTCL long-haul capacity will become Multiple Terabits per seconds, capable of delivering better services across the country.
Furthermore, PTCL, in-line with its vision to revolutionize widespread availability of IP connectivity in Pakistan, will deploy a Unified IP Edge network, spreading across more than 130 sites, for providing next generation IP services. This upgradation, along with PTCL’s recently modernized Multi-Service Core & Internet Gateway network, will enable provisioning of high-speed & reliable ICT services across Corporate, Carrier & Consumers segments, supporting future customer-end demands of 100-400 Gigabit per second scalability.

Speaking on the occasion, Nadeem Khan, Acting CEO & Group CFO, PTCL & Ufone, said, “PTCL continues to transform its network with scalable architecture and futuristic technologies, to meet growing bandwidth demand from our subscribers, corporate and carrier customers. We are glad to partner with Huawei on this strategic initiative, that will go a long way in enabling the widespread availability of quality ICT Services across Pakistan.”

On the occasion, Mark Meng, CEO, Huawei Technologies Pakistan, said, “We greatly value our long-term relationship with PTCL Group, and continue to support its vision for technological evolution. PTCL is playing a leading role in enhancing customer experience through innovation, and definitely this network transformation will empower and exceed customer expectations in times to come.”

Being the national flagship carrier, PTCL is fully committed to the vision of a Digital Pakistan, by further strengthening its commitment for continual network infrastructure evolution and resolve for consistent improvement of our valued customer experience.

 

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Pakistan signs MoU with SCO members for e-commerce platforms

August 25, 2021




CHONGQING, Aug 24 (China Economic Net) – In a milestone move to promote collaboration among Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states in the digital economy, Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Building a Cross-border E-commerce Platform with nine trade organisations of SCO member states, at the Digital Commerce Conference of the 2021 China-SCO Forum on the Digital Economy Industry on August 23 in China’s tech powerhouse of Chongqing.

Four areas of cooperation in cross-border e-commerce are highlighted in the MoU.

According to the MoU, online and offline conferences will be held to help build e-commerce platforms for international trade facilitation, digital technology exchanges and experience sharing.

Cooperation will also cover joint e-commerce talent training. The organisations will engage colleges and universities, professional training institutions, e-commerce enterprises and industry associations in cultivating e-commerce talents.

The MoU said that the organisations will draw on e-commerce to promote the production and distribution of competitive products among SCO countries, and to facilitate production and marketing by providing enterprises with overseas public warehouse, logistics, payment and other services and support to reach cooperation.

The organisations will also encourage and guide enterprises to participate in and share e-commerce developments in international exhibitions and forums on the digital economy, and draw on such platforms to create business opportunities for enterprises.

Themed “Joint e-commerce cooperation for a shared future, the Digital Commerce Conference discusses the new trends in international e-commerce and is joined by officials of SCO member states including Pakistan, and ambassadors of SCO countries in China, e-commerce enterprises and experts.

 

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Chinese companies invited to explore e-commerce in Pakistan

October 29, 2021





BEIJING: Pakistan is making all-out efforts to improve its e-commerce sector and offers the Chinese enterprises to benefit from attractive incentives and policies to explore opportunities in this sector, said Commercial Counselor, Pakistan Embassy, Beijing, Badar Uz Zaman.

“We need to attract the Chinese e-commerce application, developers, e-commerce payment solutions providers, and insurance companies so that we can develop a complete environment where e-commerce transactions can increase,” he told on the sidelines of Pakistan Investment Forum and the Cross-border E-commerce Business Negotiation Conference co-organized by Pakistan Embassy in Beijing.

He informed that Pakistan has a large population and around 150 million mobile phones are active while now people are switching towards smartphones. A number of applications are coming up but still, there are vast opportunities for other companies.

Badar said that there is a shortage of good parcel delivery services and the companies, adding, “If these services are introduced by China, like SF Express, ZTO, and other companies that are very efficient here so we good enhance our e-commerce and supplies chain industry.” He said that during the conference, several Chinese presented their own applications for comprehensive solutions covering banking, insurance, delivery, and all other aspects of e-commerce.

“These investors are also very keen to enter into Pakistani market and they also signed agreements with Pakistani commodities exporters,” he added. About the eleven-eleven big sale day for the e-commerce industry in China and around the globe, he said that some Pakistani e-commerce companies are also offering a lot of discounts. He hoped that one day Pakistan will also have this kind of supply chain in the e-commerce sector.

Badar pointed out that some companies who participated in today’s event will also be launching some applications and contribute towards this event. Regarding the participation of enterprises in the conference, he said that over 50 companies from various sectors attended today’s event and discussed the investment opportunities in Pakistan. Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque gave the detailed insight of opportunities and even businesses available in Pakistan.

“The representatives of the companies raised so many questions and they were also provided a chance for business-to-business matchmaking. So, they met with the Pakistani entrepreneurs also.

Ultimately, the companies that met each of them in this event, will go on into a real business.” He opined that owing to strong consumer demand in the Pakistan market, the Chinese companies could start a business very quickly in the special economic zones and industrial zones in Pakistan.

 

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Chinese company to invest $100m in digital payments sector​

December 7, 2022



LAHORE: Opay, a Chinese company present in various countries including Nigeria, plans to invest $100 million in Pakistan’s digital payments sector by increasing points of sale (POS) from 10,000 to 100,000, its country president told Dawn on Tuesday.

It also plans to buy a microfinance bank and has applied for the requisite licence, Ali Mubashir Kazmi said. “Opay entered Pakistan with an initial investment of $4m but now plans to invest up to $100m,” Mr Kazmi said. As for points of sale, the company would attain the 20,000 POS target in the first phase, he said.

Opay fintech raised $400m from international investors led by Japan’s SoftBank, and the company is valued at $2 billion. The investment was aimed at capturing emerging markets like Pakistan.

With a changing financial landscape amid technological development, fintech and digital banks in Pakistan are working to tap the immense potential in a large unbanked market.

“Opay has a long-term view on Pakistan. There is a great opportunity in the financial sector development, and we are geared to play our role. Opay has digital expertise and plans to penetrate the unbanked segment. The commercial view is to bring an investment of $100m into Pakistan as [foreign direct investment],” he said.

Opay Pakistan is already operating with over 200 employees and now plans to increase the number significantly. It is providing financial services as a third party and has already installed over 10,000 POS. Its parent has already invested $4m in POS machines and related infrastructure and is now waiting for a licence from the State Bank of Pakistan.

 

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Pakistan has potential to revolutionize its online business with Chinese assistance​

February 21, 2023



ISLAMABAD– Pakistan can bring a revolution in online business with the help of Chinese companies already working in the country. “Ten legal fintech companies are working in Pakistan. Four of them are Chinese companies,” Dr Tahir Mumtaz Awan, head of the China Study Centre (CSC) at Comsats University, told WealthPK. He said that three Chinese companies including Seed Creed Financial Services, Micro Creed Financial Services Limited and Hammra Financial Services Limited are active in the country.

“I am sure that many people may not know about these Chinese fintech companies which are already operating in Pakistan,” said Dr Tahir. He added that those companies could also connect the Pakistani fintech industry with WeChat and Alipay. He said that WeChat has already revolutionised online business in China. Users can buy and sell their daily items online through WeChat.
The second option is Alipay but it is for the international community. Transfers through WeChat are preferred in daily life. “Whenever I go to China I never take cash or carry a card with me. However, I always carry a power bank with me because I have to keep my phone charged and all the money is being transferred through the phone. WeChat is one of the strong financial systems,” said Dr Tahir.

He said that Chinese fintech companies are already working with Pakistan. “It is just needed to synchronise these brands with the fintech industry of Pakistan and the state-run financial institutions,” he added. He said that any Pakistani fintech company such as UBL Omni, Jazz Cash and EasyPaisa etc could be developed on the pattern of WeChat.

“Currently, local fintech companies are moving in the opposite direction of international fintech firms. We need to coordinate and make it a unique and common platform, which is accessible to everyone.
The Federal Board of Revenue is striving to strengthen the fintech industry,” he said. Dr Tahir said that Pakistan has a good 4G system and it is also moving towards 5G. “We need to make our network capable of new technology. It would be a need analysis,” he added. He said that human resources should be developed in Pakistan. Pakistani youths could be sent to China for training. Likewise, Chinese trainers could be also invited to Pakistan to train people, he added.

“This is high time to improve the skills of people. People have already the latest mobile phones, local machines and latest equipment so they just need to improve their skills,” said Dr Tahir. According to the data provided by WeChat management to WealthPK, the monthly deals of the firm reached 1.309 billion, registering an increase of 3.7%.

In 2015, WeChat Pay began to develop cross-border business. In January 2022, the WeChat Open Class disclosed to the media that mini-programmes of the company were growing rapidly in overseas business, with the number of monthly deals increasing by 268%, and the monthly average number of daily transactions increasing by 897%. WeChat Pay is currently available in 68 countries and supports payments in 26 currencies around the world, according to the data available with WealthPK.

 

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China trade facilitated by single window system​

Implementation of the system is estimated to save Pakistan $430 million, according to the World Bank

Zafar Bhutta
June 07, 2023

Pakistan has successfully established electronic connectivity between its single window system and China to exchange trade data, aiming to streamline and facilitate cross-border trade.

Speaking to the Express Tribune, Pakistan Single Window (PSW), CEO, Aftab Haider expressed the organisation’s commitment to integrating international exports and developing use cases for data exchange with China.

PSW is actively supporting the government and Pakistan Customs in facilitating electronic data exchange with partner countries, in line with bilateral agreements on international transit and trade, he said. Haider stated their ambitious goal of becoming one of the top ten single window systems worldwide within the next three years.

Pakistan committed to establishing a Single Window under the Trade Facilitation Agreement in 2017. The first phase of implementation was launched in June 2022, with the aim of digitising cross-border trade processes. PSW leverages private sector expertise to implement this ground-breaking reform initiative.

Apart from customs, 76 other departments are involved in various aspects of cross-border trade. The objective of PSW is to automate all these departments under the electronic single window, reducing the time and cost of cross-border trade. After the rollout of Pakistan’s Single Window system last year, five departments were integrated with customs, and new services, features, and modules continue to be added to the system. Most recently, the Marine Fisheries Department was integrated to facilitate the exports of fish and fish products.

PSW is also collaborating with private sector service providers, integrating pre-shipment inspection companies, laboratories, and fumigation companies into the system to facilitate trade in various sectors. The organisation aims to reduce costs and time, enhance transparency, and provide data visibility in trade regulations. PSW is also focused on data processing capabilities, seeking partnerships with renowned companies to create robust business intelligence and data warehouse capabilities for effective policymaking and trade facilitation.

Additionally, PSW shares data with relevant departments to expedite the clearance process. In July, the organisation plans to launch the Port Community System, connecting all public and private sector stakeholders involved in the port community on a single electronic platform. The system will streamline business-to-government and business-to-business processes, providing exporters with vessel schedules and traffic visibility at the ports, digitising payments, and issuing electronic delivery orders to save time and costs for traders.

The implementation of the single window system is estimated to save Pakistan $430 million, according to the World Bank.