Digital FDI Initiative Pakistan 2025

Executive summary The Digital Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Initiative was officially launched by the World Economic Forum and the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) in 2022 at Davos. The initiative is a pioneering effort to facilitate cross-border investment in the digital economy, especially in emerging markets. Pakistan is the first country to volunteer to implement this initiative, marking the beginning of the Digital FDI-Enabling Project (DEP) in 2022. The project is structured around four pillars adopted from the Forum’s Digital FDI framework – (1) digital infrastructure, (2) digital adoption, (3) new digital activities and (4) digital services exports – each targeting critical areas for growth that are essential for attracting sustained digital FDI in Pakistan. To identify challenges, opportunities and priority actions that can enable increased digital FDI in Pakistan, the project adopted a stakeholder- centred approach, gathering insights from extensive stakeholder consultations, a workshop and an investors’ survey. Six priority actions have been successfully identified across the four pillars (Figure 1), and the project team is currently supporting the development and implementation of each initiative with the Government of Pakistan Project Partners – the Board of Investment (BOI) and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT). The finalized priority actions are as follows: 1. Promote private-sector projects based on sectoral priorities and ticket size to connect local players with international investors/partners.2. Increase the role of the Prime Minister’s Office in supporting a holistic agenda and implementation of digital economy priorities (in particular, investor confidence through an improved enabling environment). 3. Enhance human capital by bridging the industry–academia gap to improve digital skill sets through advanced education and internationally accredited training programmes. 4. Become a digital-centric investment destination by offering a rationalized and stable tax policy and regulations for investors. 5. Accelerate the operationalization of special technology zones (STZs). 6. Ensure efficient spectrum management through fair pricing and transparent processes enabling timely network deployment and use to improve connectivity. This report outlines the comprehensive process undertaken by the project team to identify and finalize targeted actions through a multistakeholder consultative process, carefully tailored to Pakistan’s unique socioeconomic conditions, regulatory framework and evolving digital landscape. Implementation of these actions can bring to fruition the project’s aims and objectives set at the outset to implement the necessary measures required to boost the digital economy of Pakistan by creating an enabling environment for digital FDI.Digital FDI Initiative: Digital FDI-Enabling Project in PakistanJanuary 2025 Pakistan is striving to boost digital foreign direct investment in the country by promoting a “digital-friendly” investment climate. Digital FDI Initiative: Digital FDI-Enabling Project in Pakistan 4