Overseas chamber proposes DTAP to increase GDP by $40bln

ISLAMABAD: The Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industries (OICCI) on Thursday recommended the PTI led government to establish Digital Transformation of Pakistan Agency (DTAP) to tap $40 to $50 billion into the GDP and create five million direct and indirect job opportunities till 2025.

“Pakistan can exploit huge potential with implementation of digital transformation in the country in areas of financial inclusion, e-education, e-health and e-governance,” OICCI President Irfan Wahab said while launching the National Program for Digital Transformation on Thursday.

Flanked by OICCI Secretary Abdul Haleem, IBM Country General Manager Ghaznfar Ali and others, the OICCI president said they shared the findings of the report with Prime Minister Imran Khan. The report recommended the government to reduce recent hike in taxes on import of mobile, and added that the government was formulating a policy to incentivise establishment of manufacturing units of cellular phones in Pakistan.

The cyber security and regulations, they said, were quite important to boost export of the services sector, which currently stood at $1 billion, while Philippine exported $34 billion.

The OICCI members, who are top 200 foreign investors belonging to 35 countries, including 50 Fortune 500 companies, have shared their international experience and expertise in presenting a concise analysis of the current digital landscape and recommended forward looking specific action plan to fast track Pakistan to a respectable level of digital transformation.

The OICCI president said many businesses and individuals were creating applications and solutions that help accelerate economic growth. “If an enabling environment is created through the implementation of the policy recommendations provided in this report, we believe the economic and social impact will be unparalleled.”

The OICCI digital recommendations have the potential to significantly uplift the socioeconomic well-being of the citizens and generate more than five million direct and indirect job opportunities in the country, while at the same time increasing GDP by $40-50 billion annually by 2025,” he added.

The OICCI digital report recommends creating a digital friendly ecosystem to empower and enable digital entrepreneurship among the youth of Pakistan, who are equipped with a digital skill set.

The countries that have embraced the digital revolution by integrating innovative technologies at all levels of society and the economy enjoy higher productivity, accelerated growth and enhanced quality of life for their citizens compared to other countries.

Besides business use, the use of automation and technology in governance was also bringing significant rewards to the society and countries, as has been recorded in the rapid growth of few countries, versus others in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business and other similar competitive measures.

The OICCI report provides various examples of digitisation contributing towards the socioeconomic development benefiting the larger population in many countries especially in Europe and Asia.

The OICCI report recommends 12 different areas for implementation, including telemedicine in public sector health units, distance learning (e-education) in public sector, digital skills training, digitalisation in agriculture sector, and digital entrepreneurship.