Digital push could yield $80bn

Dawn reported that Pakistan could gain between $60 billion and $80bn across the coming five years from digital change. A working paper from the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) identifies agriculture, real estate and healthcare as sectors likely to benefit substantially. The authority describes digitalisation as a key route to faster growth, better public services and leaner government operations.

The paper projects agriculture gains of over $9bn by 2030, while healthcare reforms could save more than $450m. Real estate could receive an extra $15bn in investment by 2030, the document says. It also flags weak interoperability between government digital systems as a serious obstacle, and the working paper has reached the Ministry of IT & Telecom.

The proposed National Digital Master Plan would focus on joining government systems, cutting administrative bottlenecks and setting shared standards across public institutions. The Pakistan Digital Stack would combine digital identity, payments and data exchange, allowing secure dealings among departments. Under the framework, the authority will also assist in building digital infrastructure that links the federal and provincial tiers of government.