Cheema seeks provincial sign-off on National Digital Masterplan before budget

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema said on Saturday he expected consultations with all provincial governments on the National Digital Masterplan (NDMP) to be completed before the upcoming federal budget to ensure implementation readiness and coordinated resource allocation for the next fiscal year.

Cheema made the remarks at a review meeting on the NDMP, co-chaired with Tauqeer Shah, to assess progress on Pakistan’s digital transformation strategy and strengthen coordination between federal and provincial stakeholders, according to a statement issued by the Economic Affairs Division.

The minister said provincial governments were expected to finalise their feedback to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication before the budget, adding that stronger inter-provincial coordination would help create harmonised digital systems and improve transparency, efficiency and public service delivery.

Officials from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication briefed the meeting on the implementation roadmap, institutional coordination mechanisms and ongoing initiatives under the masterplan.

The session was attended by Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Secretary IT Zarrar Hashim Khan, Pakistan Digital Authority Chairman Dr Sohail Munir and other senior officials.

Participants also reviewed a proposal to add a dedicated digital transformation section to PC-1 documents for new development projects, similar to the existing environmental component, to ensure digital integration is built into projects from the planning stage.

The NDMP is designed as a national framework to coordinate digital transformation across sectors including education, health, agriculture, taxation, social protection, energy, logistics and public service delivery.

According to the Economic Affairs Division, the plan aims to transform Pakistan into a leading digital economy through investments in connectivity, digital infrastructure, skills development, innovation ecosystems and modern governance systems.

The framework also focuses on promoting digital entrepreneurship, strengthening government e-services and developing secure and interoperable digital public infrastructure to attract investment and create employment opportunities for young people.

Cheema said citizens would be the ultimate beneficiaries of the initiative, as digitisation would reduce human intervention and allow people to access basic government services without visiting public offices.