World Bank to Approve $78m Worth ‘Pakistan: Digital Economy Enhancement Project’ on Friday

The World Bank is likely to approve the “Pakistan: Digital Economy Enhancement Project (DEEP)” worth $78 million this Friday. The project aims to enhance the government’s capacity to deliver digitally-enabled public services to citizens and businesses.

The project will focus on increasing access to digital services across Pakistan, particularly in areas with significant digital divides. It will also work on improving the enabling environment, including reforms to expand broadband connectivity and strengthen the policy and legal framework for the digital economy.

World Bank to Approve $78m Worth ‘Pakistan: Digital Economy Enhancement Project’ on Friday

DEEP will support the implementation agencies, including the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), the Board of Investment (BoI), and other provincial institutions, in adopting institutional, policy, and regulatory global best practices.

NADRA, under the Ministry of Interior, will build a data exchange layer for government agencies to securely exchange information. It will also provide citizens with a digital ‘wallet’ to secure credentials, which will improve access to public and private services, such as birth certificates and banking.

Aligned with the 2018 Digital Pakistan Policy, the project aims to establish a holistic enterprise architecture and integrate government databases and systems through e-government service portals.

The project consists of three components:

1. Improving digital economy, governance, and service capabilities: This component will provide technical assistance to MoITT for policy and regulatory reforms related to the country’s connectivity infrastructure. It includes reforms in Right-of-Way (RoW), broadband demand analysis, infrastructure mapping, institutional alignment of MoITT, and nationwide stakeholder engagement.

2. Pakistan Business Portal: This component will support BoI in modernizing regulatory regimes at federal, provincial, and municipal levels. It includes developing a catalogue of registrations, certificates, licenses, and other requirements for investing and operating businesses in Pakistan.

3. Project management: This component will cover the establishment of Project Management Units (PMUs) to oversee and manage the implementation of the project.

Despite the availability of policy instruments, the lack of implementation support has caused missed opportunities in various sub-sectors. The project aims to address these challenges and enhance the capacity of the government to exchange data securely and seamlessly.

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