Pakistan promotes e-commerce to boost business and reduce poverty

["Ashish Kotamkar" <ashish@mithi.com>]

Pakistan promotes e-commerce to boost business and reduce poverty
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2002/october/4oct02/index.htm
l

Recognizing the power of information and communications technology 
(ICT), Pakistan is promoting e-commerce as a way of helping 
businesses improve efficiency, create jobs and reduce poverty.  

A recent international conference (http://www.emerge.com.pk/) in 
Islamabad on e-commerce and development, organized by the Ministry of 
Science and Technology, UNDP and the UN Conference on Trade and 
Development, brought together experts to review Pakistan's progress 
and recommend new strategies.  

E-commerce will encourage business, government and academia to work 
more closely together, in line with the UNDP global strategy of 
promoting public-private partnerships to bridge the digital divide.  

Dr. Attaur-Rehman, Minister of Science and Technology, told the 
conference that the Government plans to put an e-commerce policy 
framework in place within three months. The private sector will be 
the driving force behind e-commerce, he said, with the Government 
providing a simple, secure legal environment.  

Banks in Pakistan have made great progress in e-commerce in the past 
three years, but need to do more, he said, announcing that the 
Government will carry out e-commerce readiness surveys of banks and 
publish reports and ratings regularly.  

UNDP Resident Representative Onder Yucer said that management of 
information is critical for equitable economic growth. "We hope that 
with UNDP support, Pakistan will benefit more from the emerging 
possibilities that digital technology offers in areas as diverse as 
commerce, governance and education."  

Mr. Yucer pointed out that banks and ICT companies in Pakistan are 
enthusiastic about e-commerce. These are critical sectors for guiding 
e-commerce initiatives and their links to the general business sector 
are important in this regard, he said.  

Pakistan has recognized ICT as a major source of economic 
revitalization, and the Ministry of Science and Technology has asked 
UNDP to mobilize e-commerce expertise to help develop appropriate 
policies and identify areas where it can benefit the country's 
development, including bringing poor communities into the economic 
mainstream.  

UNDP has also helped the Ministry establish a Virtual University 
(http://www.vu.edu.pk/), which aims to bring together talented 
professionals to provide world-class online ICT education for 40,000 
students. The long-term goal is to improve the standard of ICT to 
make Pakistan more economically competitive.  

For further information please contact Khurram Masood 
(http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2002/october/4oct02/), UNDP 
Pakistan, or Trygve Olfarnes 
(http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2002/october/4oct02/), UNDP 
Communications Office.  

=============================================== 
Warm regards, 
Ashish Kotamkar (ashish@mithi.com)