Digital city collaboration should be deepened under CPEC, said Aslam Chaudhary, Economic Minister, Pakistan Embassy Economic Wing, at the ongoing Global Digital Economy Conference held here. “The theme of our conference, build a digitally friendly city, highlights the harmonious coexistence between people and technology in the city, which is what we often call people-oriented in the digital age, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Thursday.

We also highly agree with this in Pakistan’s national development strategy,” Aslam Chaudhary added. In his Address, he pointed out that building digitally friendly cities is not just about technology, but about creating an environment where all citizens, whether urban or rural, could use safe and reliable digital technologies. Given this, Pakistan is fulfilling its national commitment to continuously expand the scope of the digital economy services and try to cover every remotest area.

Nowadays, the Pakistani government has established an inclusive service fund to strengthen the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, and under the framework of the Six One One Foundation, the fund is playing its role. “Through this, we have laid optical cables in large areas of the country, connecting about 22,000 villages.” “By building digital-friendly cities, different cities are able to recognize each other’s data standards.

At the same time, cooperation agreements between countries are an indispensable boost to the digitalization of developing countries,” Chaudhary stressed. In April, the Secretary-General of the Riyadh-based Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), Deemah AlYahya, noted Pakistan’s forthcoming presidency of the multilateral body is part of ongoing efforts to position the country as a regional and global digital leader. Pakistan is scheduled to assume the DCO presidency in 2026, following Kuwait’s term in 2025. 

“The 2026 presidency will see Pakistan hosting the Digital Future Development Initiative (DFDI) forum in Islamabad, marking a significant step in Pakistan's digital transformation journey.” “On this occasion, I am going to have three major initiatives,” the Minister appealed. “First, strengthen cross-border data flows and interoperability. We are establishing a cross-border data flow norm under the South-South cooperation framework.

Second, inclusive digital technology development is essential, including in the fields of agriculture, medical and health industries. Third, we need to conduct joint training of digital talents. Through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor framework, the two countries have signed a talent training agreement. Pakistan’s need for digital talent training is of high urgency.”

Chaudhary listed cloud computing, flood warning, climate change, smart cities and other areas where China and Pakistan can achieve in-depth cooperation, and suggested establishing a Digital Friendly City Innovation Center with branches in Beijing, Islamabad and Karachi so that different branches can carry out a series of joint pilot projects.

“We’re seeing that Beijing is accelerating the construction of a global digital economy benchmark city and exploring the construction of a Digital Silk Road pilot zone. Pakistan is willing to work with China and all other partners around the globe to turn vision into tangible digital reality.” The Minister added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP) — Pak-China