Pakistan seeks Alibaba cooperation for cashless economy, SME exports

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb held talks with leaders of Alibaba International Digital Commerce in Bangkok, on the sidelines of the World Bank Group and IMF Annual Meetings 2026. According to Business Recorder, the finance ministry said the discussions covered digital payments, e-commerce and technology. The minister also invited proposals for rationalising e-commerce taxation while weighing equity against a wider tax base.

Aurangzeb also praised Alibaba's backing for small and medium enterprises, domestic brands and shipments abroad via Daraz and Alibaba.com. Both sides also looked at speeding up the Pakistan Single Window e-commerce platform and tracking cross-border payments tied to exports. The talks additionally touched on cloud systems, AI and tax administration, while the parties explored upgrading Pakistan Post sorting operations and widening farm exports to China through Alibaba's retail channels.

In a separate meeting, Aurangzeb met Engineer Adeeb Y. Al Aama, chief executive of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, and pointed to improved economic performance, larger reserves and a return to international capital markets. Talks covered the outstanding financing tranche, and both parties agreed technical teams would work on pricing and the size of financing to reach an acceptable outcome. The minister also outlined efforts to shift away from expensive short-dated loans toward longer-tenor funding without adding to external debt.