The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) published a report predicting that the country’s market would reach 1 billion USD by 2020.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is defining, through new regulations, the framework of Payment System Operators (PSO) and Payment Service Providers (PSP). An e-commerce policy framework is also under development.
The report lists many private sector e-commerce successful initiatives. Payment gateways are a facilitating element to the growth of the e-commerce market, as it attracts international companies.
Pakistan is a cash-driven economy, with a low penetration of mobile wallets and credit or debit cards. 95% of the Pakistani transactions are made using cash-on-delivery.
Business-to-business (B2B) is making good progress. The Pakistani software industry is aiming at exporting 5 billion USD by 2020. A number of medium-sized firms, mainly in the software development and service outsourcing branches, will earn over 500 million USD. Pakistani IT sales account for only 2.8 billion USD of the global market, valued at 3200 billion USD.
Pakistan’s consumers buy day-to-day items online, but also cars, property and travel packages.
