President for giant leap in digital technology for improved economy, service delivery.

President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said for Pakistan, a big leap in digital technology was important to directly improve its economy and make progress in public service delivery.

The president stressed that by leveraging digital technology, the country could explore advanced avenues of business in the revolutionized world.

Addressing here at a seminar on 'Digital System for public -Welfare, weaknesses and remedies', the president said Pakistan needed to make early decisions in technology and keep pace with the fast-changing world.

President Alvi said the country needed a 'full-throttle acceleration' on expanding digitalization in areas of public service delivery, including online banking.

Lauding the talent of the nation, he said the country was 'standing on the gold mine of people'.

He said learning knowledge about FinTech (financial technology) and artificial intelligence could prove as a catalyst to progress.

He said taking initiative in learning and getting the edge in technology was of foremost importance.

In this regard, he emphasized working on intellectual ideas and early decisions on implementing digitalization strategy in diverse areas.

President Alvi, however, stressed that besides digitalization, the stakeholders needed to guide the consumers not to fall victim to online scams.

He said scams could not be averted completely, however, their proportion to the delivery of services was important.

He emphasized controlling online scams and frauds through continuous effort, including targeted messaging.

He highlighted how effectively the 130 million targeted cellular texts on early prevention of breast cancer successfully relayed a powerful message among the general public.

The president said the people had already adopted cell phone technology, and there was a need to guide them about the benefits of advanced technology.

He said that older people were more susceptible to online fraud and needed to be educated about it.

President Alvi recalled how the Covid-19 pandemic forced the nation to engage in e-learning and in various online projects.

Executive Director State Bank of Pakistan, Syed Sohail Javaad...