ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications questioned the legal standing of the Pakistan Crypto Council and reiterated that the legislature have not been taken into confidence prior to the establishment of the Council, and decided to seek briefing by the finance ministry in the next meeting for comprehensive briefing.
The meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications was held with Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan in the chair at Old PIPS Hall Parliament Lodges to review the scope and mandate of Pakistan Crypto Council recently launched by the federal government.
Senator Mohammad Humayun Mohmand inquired as to whether or not the Council could be created by the Executive orders. Senator Kamran Murtaza inquired about a law to regulate the Crypto Council as if there is a major fraud or deception, who will be responsible. “If a crypto-related issue arises in the country, what will be its legal status,” he inquired.
The Committee further inquired about the role of IT Ministry in Crypto Council. Senator Afnanullah said that the Crypto Council should have been under the Ministry of IT and Telecom. Secretary IT, Zarrar Hasham Khan, stated that the Ministry has a role of providing input with regard to TORs.
The Committee was of view that the Crypto Council should be under the preview of Ministry of IT, rather than the finance ministry. After due deliberations, the committee deferred the matter and decided to seek comprehensive briefing from the Finance Ministry in the next meeting.
Discussing the issue of renewal of LDI/FLL licenses, Secretary IT informed that the consultation with the stakeholders has been completed as per the directions of Sindh High Court, and the final decision will be announced in two to three weeks.
Furthermore, the Committee was briefed on the role of IT Ministry in Pakistan Digital Authority. Secretary IT apprised that the Pakistan Digital Authority has been tasked to implement digital transformation initiatives focused on making the economy and governance digital, and will eventually play a major role in creating citizens centered ‘Digital Society’.
However, the IT Ministry is mainly responsible for policy formulation, legislation, governance in IT and telecommunications sector, he added. Moreover, the Committee raised concerns on ‘Digital Nation Commission’ which will be headed by prime minister and includes chief ministers of all provinces.
Senator Kamran Murtaza opined that the Digital Nation Commission aimed to dilute the provincial autonomy as it lacks consensus mechanism.
The Committee deferred the matter and decided to take federal minister’s input on the matter. While discussing the purported claim of launching first GPT (Zahanat AI) by the IT minister and subsequent denial by CEO, NITB, officials stated that Zahanat AI is the first initiative of such kind initiated by the private sector and the federal minister attended the event to encourage private sector.
However, the minister has not made such remarks and her statement has been misconstrued, officials claimed. Additionally, the Committee was briefed on Digital Foreign Direct Investment Forum (DFDI) which was held on 29 & 30th April at Jinnah Convention.
The Officials stated that the event was spearheaded by the Ministry of IT and Telecommunications in partnership with the Digital Cooperation Organization and was a great success as 40 countries participated in the event and a commitment of around 700 million USD was made during the event by the several companies. The officials further informed the breakup of IT companies registered with PASHA and PSEB.
Officials informed that a total of 20,000 plus IT companies are registered with the Pakistan Software Export Board indicating a 19pc increase than the previous year.
Officials further stated that the IT sector generated an export remittance of $3.22 billion during the 2023-24, reflecting an increase of 24.15 pc compared to FY 2022-23. In attendance were senators Pervaiz Rashid, Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Dr. Afnanullah Khan, Gurdeep Singh, Kamran Murtaza, Dr. Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, Nadeem Ahmed Bhutto, secretary Information Technology and Telecommunications Zarrar Hasham Khan, Chairman PTA Major General (R) Hafeez Ur Rehman and senior officials of relevant departments.