Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Mr. Shaukat Tarin presided over a significant meeting on the establishment of Pakistan International E-payment Gateway (IPG) that envisages paving the way for financial inclusion and payment digitization, a sub-component of the nine pillars of the government’s e-commerce policy.
A consultative session was held with all relevant stakeholders to identify gaps between payment solutions available domestically and their integration with international payment gateway solution providers to promote e-commerce.
The Advisor on Commerce briefed the participants about the current digital financial landscape of the country.
The Governor SBP outlined steps being taken for the financial inclusion of domestic banks.
The Federal Minister for IT and Telecom assured full facilitation in provision of enabling environment to the service providers as needed under IPG.
The Finance Minister emphasized following the international best practices and devising a way forward to implement an international payment gateway, ensuring transparency and due consultation with key stakeholders both in the public and private sectors.
In this connection, the Finance Minister constituted a four-member committee, headed by the Secretary of Commerce and comprising representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, Finance Division, and the Federal Board of Revenue, to devise a framework. He directed for seeking input from the President Pakistan Banking Association (PBA) and the leading market players from the private sector to understand their requirements and present a framework for further deliberation after four weeks.
In his closing remarks, the Finance Minister stated that government will be the facilitator and regulator in a journey toward implementing IPG. The establishment of an international e-payment gateway will improve consumer confidence in e-commerce through global connectivity, he concluded.
Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin-ul-Haque, Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, CEO National Information Technology Board Syed Hussain Abbas Kazmi, Secretary Commerce, senior policy analysts, and other senior officers participated in the meeting. Governor State Bank Dr. Reza Baqir joined the meeting through a video link.
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