RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) President Saboor Malik on Tuesday said that e-commerce has a potential for creating two million jobs in Pakistan which can boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) up to $40 billion during the next couple of years.
The RCCI president said that Pakistan’s information, communications and technology sectors should be transformed to reposition the country in the digital economy.
He said that digital platforms have been rapidly growing around the world adding that Pakistan needs to make progress in this domain.
He further said that mobile phone penetration in Pakistan is high with the country having over 160 million mobile phone subscribers and around 150 million internet users.
However the country still lacks digital platforms for e-payments. Currently more than 66 per cent of payments for e-shopping are being made on a Cash on Delivery (COD) basis, the RCCI president informed.
He said that in developed economies digital transactions account for 20 per cent of overall transactions adding that digitalisation will also have a serious impact on jobs transformation.
He urged the government to overhaul the banking infrastructure and encourage businesses, retailers, petrol pumps, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Railways, superstores, schools and colleges to introduce payment gateways.
The federal cabinet has already approved an e-commerce policy for promoting a move towards digital economy in a bid to enhance trade volumes.
