World Bank Will Enhance Pakistan Economy To Provide Businesses With Digitally Public Services.

The World Bank’s (WB) Executive Committee will take Pakistan: The Digital Economy Enhancement Project, which will cost $78 million next month, aims to improve the government’s ability to provide citizens and businesses with digitally enabled public services.

According to the available project documents, a comprehensive approach to digital government services is largely ignored. The responsible institutions lack implementation support, which results in missed opportunities across various subsectors, despite the policy instruments that are available at the federal and provincial levels.

The government’s and non-government actors’ ability to securely and seamlessly exchange data has been limited by a lack of interoperability frameworks and mechanisms, despite the existence of relatively robust national ID and payment systems.

Transactions on the National Data Exchange Layer (Number), unique users on the National Citizen Services Portal (Number and Percentage), registration, Licenses, Certificates, and Other (RLCOs) transactions processed on the Pakistan Business Portal (Number and Percentage), and users’ satisfaction with the services provided by the National Citizen Services Portal (Percentage) are the project’s proposed outcome indicators.

According to the project documents, Pakistan has experienced frequent macroeconomic crises as a result of a growth model based on private and government consumption, with relatively limited gains from productivity-enhancing investments and exports. Over the past two decades, GDP growth per capita has been modest, hovering around 2% on average. Poverty, human development outcomes, and economic expansion are likely to be severely impacted by the recent, unprecedented floods.

In addition, Pakistan has begun its digital transformation, it said. Access to the Internet, especially via mobile devices, and demand for digital services have been rising, particularly during the pandemic. However, Pakistan lags behind regional counterparts in most digital development rankings, particularly when it comes to digital infrastructure (connectivity), digital government, and the environment that makes it possible for the digital economy.

Pakistan’s recent successes in digital government services include the effective use of digital technologies to quickly implement the Emergency Cash Program to mitigate the pandemic’s socioeconomic effects, demonstrating the power of the NADRA-managed national identity (ID) system and the NSER’s socioeconomic data. Digital government-to-person payments are also made possible by Pakistan’s Instant payment system (RAAST).

In addition, the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal, a smartphone application that serves as a nationwide grievance redressing system and promotes citizen-centric participatory governance, has been used by nearly 4 million citizens. These initiatives show that digital government and private services can be offered to a wider audience. However, digital government services largely lack a holistic approach.

Revisions, support for implementation, and improved coordination between the federal and regional governments are all needed to improve Pakistan’s policy and regulatory environment. Improving connectivity, digital government services, literacy, and the economy are the four most important aspects of the state governments’ digital policies.