Digital FDI Initiative Pakistan 2025

4. Become a digital-centric investment destination by offering 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. The DEP in Pakistan was conceived in the context of the digital ecosystem and FDI trends to understand and diagnose drivers, barriers, opportunities and areas of intervention through a detailed multistage process that consisted of in- country and virtual consultations and inputs from all key stakeholders. The Forum’s Digital FDI framework has been adopted to help grow Pakistan’s digital economy. Accordingly, an analysis of Pakistan’s current digital landscape has been organized in terms of relevant pillars in the following sections, beginning with the identification of the primary stakeholders involved. It is important to highlight that while each pillar of the framework is distinct and vertical, there is potential for horizontal overlap when applied to Pakistan’s digital ecosystem. Pakistan currently does not have a formal definition of the “digital economy” and therefore does not report metrics assigned to the “digital economy” as a category in administrative or periodic datasets. To understand this landscape, and corresponding investment and market trends, a composite of various indicators related to identifiable digital segments and FDI need to be used. 2.2.1 Key stakeholders Given the developing nature of the digital economy in Pakistan, a federal structure of governance and key sectors consisting of legacy and digital segments, stakeholders that can influence and/or govern the digital economy, can be categorized as shown in Table 2. Throughout the project, key stakeholders across each category were actively engaged through a series of consultations, follow-up meetings and a dedicated stakeholder workshop. This comprehensive engagement provided invaluable insights into Pakistan’s digital landscape and investment ecosystem to inform the project’s direction and outcomes.2.2 Pakistan’s digital ecosystem Key stakeholder groups in Pakistan’s digital economy TABLE 2 Stakeholder group Overview Government entities – federal and provincialThese develop and implement policies, regulations, laws and measures that govern the investment and digital landscape of Pakistan at both the federal and provincial levels Investors Local and international actors invest in current and new businesses Digital businesses (e-commerce, finance, energy, telecommunications companies, logistics, etc.)Enterprises across the digital economy value chain that operate and offer platforms, products and services to businesses, consumers and governments Incubators/acceleratorsThese facilitate the development of start-ups by offering a competitive, growth-oriented environment as well as guidance and mentorship; they are linked with other actors and parts of the digital ecosystem Knowledge partners (academia/research organizations)These collect evidence and/or contribute to policy and industry development processes Business associationsThese act as a consultative bridge between the public and private sectors to create an enabling investment ecosystem through inputs and feedback on policy and regulatory instruments Civil society organizationsThese influence the regulatory environment and the political economy with regard to the digital sector through policy advocacy, consultations and awareness, promoting transparency and accountability in the system Digital FDI Initiative: Digital FDI-Enabling Project in Pakistan 9