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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to invite global online payment giants PayPal and Alibaba to offer their services in the country, the IT ministry has said, after easing its e-commerce rules.
The move follows a decision by the global Financial Action Task Force to remove Pakistan from its list of high-risk and non-cooperative jurisdictions linked to money laundering.
Read: Govt to introduce new telecom policy with focus on latest trends, services
Neither US-based PayPal nor Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (which operates a service called Alipay) currently work inside Pakistan, which had strict regulation until recently limiting online payments for services.
Local vendors instead offer cash-on-delivery options.
Minister of Information Technology Anusha Rahman said in a statement released on Monday that following the State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) decision to announce new rules for e-commerce, the government would “solicit mechanism to coordinate with international e-commerce players such as PayPal and AliBaba encouraging them to establish their setup to enable e-commerce services in Pakistan.“
Pakistan has a growing IT industry that mainly provides outsourcing services in the form of coding to major Western clients.
IT exports, which account for around 10 per cent of total services experts, are currently worth $2.2 billion annually, with the government aiming to increase the figure to more than $5 billion by 2017.
Pakistan launched high-speed mobile internet services last year, with the subscriber base now totalling around 18 million.
There are also around 21 million broadband Internet subscribers, according to official figures.
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On DawnNews
Comments (42) Closed
Nov 25, 2015 09:20pm
ali baba means killing local industry.welcome chinese junk
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Nov 25, 2015 09:20pm
That is a it strange,why not encourage young people to do the same and start their own companies like it has happened in India.giant like Amazon is struggling to stay in the market due to homegrown startups
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Nov 25, 2015 09:29pm
To invite all ebay ,amazon etc the main issue is the Paypal.. once ebay start in Pakistan. it will kill all other Pakistani online stores like Homeshopping.pk shophive daraz olx etc . ebay will bring all junk stuff China/Hongkong to Pakistan at extremely cheapest price.
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Nov 25, 2015 09:49pm
@hah Yes chinese junk
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Nov 25, 2015 09:55pm
Before doing that just open the YouTube. This is hindsight...pure and simple. Also PayPal will be helpful for freelancers doing online work, Pakistan ranks third in the world with an estimated half million people engaged in this sort of work.
Thee are plenty of local online stores and they should be encouraged by the government...they don't stand a chance in front of e-bay and alibaba.
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Nov 25, 2015 10:00pm
Why invite them ? Opening website is not a big deal. Why cant it be done locally ?
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Nov 25, 2015 10:02pm
Maybe start with Youtube!
I studied abroad, and most of my concepts were consolidated on youtube lectures. Its a shame our students have proxy to use it!
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Nov 25, 2015 10:04pm
You both are good companies.Good initiative by IT ministry.
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Nov 25, 2015 10:29pm
@hah local industry already selling this chinese junk via cash on delivery or bank transfers :)
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Nov 25, 2015 10:30pm
Always shortcuts, instead of creating a local ecosystem!
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Nov 25, 2015 10:30pm
This is good move from the government and should be encouraged. Competition is good for the country.
There also are many sites like this one which provides buying and selling locally in Pakistan.
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Nov 25, 2015 10:33pm
@kh thats not a website its payment system that works across countries internationally in multiple currencies! better to understand the topic before commenting!
What Pakistani banks should have done to come up with paypal like payment system for p2p payments, that hasnt happened so PayPal or similar is needed.
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Nov 25, 2015 10:47pm
No its not killing local industry. It is way to increase the competition. This will provide opportunity for local startups.
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Nov 25, 2015 10:50pm
About time. Pakistan lags behind in ease of doing business and this should help bridge son gaps.
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Nov 25, 2015 11:28pm
Good step....will help freelancers a lot!
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Nov 25, 2015 11:30pm
@Truth : Can not ; will not work protectionism: private enterprise; capitalist work on competition: innovation; speed ; efficiency- that is the name of the game: Ali Baba; Paypal has disadvantage ; local business knows inroads; language and culture and have connections: don't cry foul: come up with ideas and make them into reality - Jack Ma was not born privileged -in fact out of 23 KFC job applicants his was the only 1 rejected;
Don't expect govt; to protect and deprived customer from choices.
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Nov 26, 2015 12:06am
encourage your own youth to start this. Make in Pakistan...its not roclet science
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Nov 26, 2015 12:23am
@S A Khokhar
Respected Sir, Thank you. You understand best.Hope these innocent people Study and understand then write.
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Nov 26, 2015 01:02am
India's e-commerce revenue is currently pegged at $17 billion and set to touch staggering $100 billion by 2020!
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Nov 26, 2015 01:13am
Message from India , Please focus on own start-up , look at snapdeal , flipkart.
There is talent in Pakistan , they must encourage , create own payments with kiosks.
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Nov 26, 2015 01:19am
I say, Support Pakistani online shops like Daraz, homeshopping, and many more, why do we need alibaba or others.. i am sure the way pakistani sites are growing we dont need to lay redcarpet for forign giants
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Nov 26, 2015 01:20am
@Obaid try playit.pk, its youtube without logo, so technically youtube was never stopped ;)
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Nov 26, 2015 01:34am
@Zahoor Alam ?????
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Nov 26, 2015 01:38am
@hah What local industry? Who is offering e-commerce in Pakistan? Did you and 16 who recommended you even understood what is being discussed here?
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Nov 26, 2015 01:52am
For those who are criticizing, please understand the article first and then comment. Paypal is good for Pakistanis. It can provide a lot of new opportunities for young computer programmers, mobile app developers to deal with the international clients for financial remittances. Alibaba will also provide the Pakistani business to showcase their products in Alibaba in order to get the orders from different countries.
It will be very beneficial for Pakistani professionals and businesses if they use these portals with honesty.
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Nov 26, 2015 03:01am
It's not as bad as it sound. It would make the market more competitive which is good for the consumers.
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Nov 26, 2015 04:02am
@Jaatboy what Amazon is struggling? Amazon is doing great in India
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Nov 26, 2015 04:03am
Let them ALL in. That's how we will make progress. This will also give an opportunity to Pakistan to compete. Look at U.S and India, all of these sites operate in those countries and everyone is flourishing.
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Nov 26, 2015 04:43am
Why not create such service locally? I am positive Pakistani IT industry can create a similarly effective or even a better system. The hurdle is financial rules not technology.
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Nov 26, 2015 04:47am
Very bad decision... as usual!!!
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Nov 26, 2015 06:20am
Too late, good but youtube?
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Nov 26, 2015 07:43am
Paypal is welcome. Alibaba, not so much
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Nov 26, 2015 08:01am
Good work Pakistan. At least you also made a move in technology.
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Nov 26, 2015 08:01am
@Jaatboy nice advice bro
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Nov 26, 2015 08:02am
@Truth thats good for our people of pk. Isn't it?
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Nov 26, 2015 08:04am
@Baizad Khan like kaymu.pk
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Nov 26, 2015 11:25am
I request the authorities concerned to take necessary steps for introduction of this service in Pakistan, enabling its citizens to get benefit of such convenient and safe foreign transaction service.
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Nov 26, 2015 12:02pm
@hah they also said aliplay services which is currently completer with paypal.
FYI you still buy things from alibaba without account in aliplay but with aliplay you can buy things from many websites.
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Nov 26, 2015 03:08pm
I really appreciate this action ... it's never late and it is going to be a great step to help our young freelancers to survive and compete in the International Market and become self reliant. Thanks God that it is coming to Pakistan. :)
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Nov 26, 2015 03:53pm
@kh because people in pakistan are not a good dealer. We try to cheat everyone.
We are Muslims but not the true one.
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Nov 26, 2015 07:23pm
PayPal welcome. Alibaba please!
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Nov 27, 2015 02:32pm
any buddy knows to whom we contact for Paypal service in Pakistan
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