Digital economy to accelerate national development of Pakistan: Chinese Expert.

BEIJING -- There is a great growth potential for Pakistan's e-commerce and e-commerce policy makers will focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), improving e-commerce experience, developing online stores, offering job opportunities for youth, promoting exports, and vigorously developing digital economy.

At the same time, the State Bank of Pakistan will accelerate the construction, application and promotion of domestic and international online payment systems, Cheng Xizhong, Prof. at Southwest University of Political Science and Law wrote in his article published in China Economic Net.

Recently, at an e-commerce policy forum hosted by Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce stated that Pakistan's e-commerce sales in 2018 stood at Rs 40 billion, which almost doubled the sales of 20.7 billion in 2017.

Among top e-commerce platforms in Pakistan, Daraz is the most famous. It was founded in 2012 and wholly acquired by Alibaba in 2018. The second is Hamariweb, which mainly provides clothing and electronic products for users. Third, Goto Online Shopping, headquartered in Karachi, is an all category e-commerce platform, and its electronic products are most popular with consumers.

It is a good thing that State Bank of Pakistan will accelerate the development of online payment systems, so definitely it will adopt corresponding policies.

Domestically, online payment system should be developed first in big cities such as Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, then medium-sized cities and small towns, and finally in vast rural areas, to gradually extend the online payment system in the whole country.

Globally, priority should be given to the development of online payment system to China, United States, Europe, Middle East and other countries and regions according to the closeness of trade relations.

Another development is that a Chinese Customs delegation has visited Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and held detailed discussions with Pakistani Customs officials in Islamabad.

The two sides agreed that they would make an all-out effort to expedite clearances of agricultural products, under the proposed Green Corridor, at Sust Dry Port, Pakistan and Khunjerab Dry Port at Tashkurgan on the Chinese side, in a bid to...