KARACHI: A senior member of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, which has been chasing PayPal Holdings Inc to start Pakistan operations, said the country was still in talks with the worldwide payments processor and “hopeful” it would launch services soon in the South Asian nation of 208 million.
As of this year, PayPal operates in about 200 markets and has 277 million registered accounts, allowing customers to send, receive, and hold funds in 25 currencies. Around 200,000 freelancers and over 7,000 registered small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would benefit if PayPal entered the Pakistani market.
The online payment industry is pegged to grow ten-fold to $500 billion by 2020, but last week, Senator Mian Mohammad Ateeq Shaikh told the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Technology that PayPal was afraid to enter Pakistan in the absence of laws to protect the company’s interests.
“The issue is under consideration, and we are hopeful [PayPal will enter Pakistan],” Muhammad Abdul Ghafar Wattoo, member of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, told Arab News.
PayPal, an Elon Musk-founded company, will allow Pakistani consumers to use the platform to shop online at some of the country’s most popular businesses. Merchants accepting PayPal will also be able to process both local and global payments through PayPal, getting access to the payment processor’s more than 218 million customers around the world and in Pakistan.
Industry insiders say one of the major bottlenecks to PayPal coming into Pakistan is a central bank-mandated $2 million license fee.
“For a company like PayPal, which earns between 2% to 3% on transactions, even a $100 million transaction a year could not justify a $2 million license fee,” Dawn reported this week.
Freelancer graphic designer Zoha Kaml Azmi said she was disappointed when she heard PayPal was refusing to start Pakistan operations.
“I had found a really good freelance site based in England but the client couldn’t pay me as I didn't have a PayPal account,” Azmi said. “I was very happy I could get myself registered on those freelance sites. PayPal is a global gateway that connects to the larger world. There are many freelance opportunities that I am missing because PayPal doesn’t exist in Pakistan.”
In the absence of PayPal or another internationally recognized payment gateways, Pakistani freelancers and SMEs have hacked other ways of providing services and being paid from abroad, according to the Secretary-General of the Pakistan Software Houses Association, Shehryar Hydri. Many SMEs and freelancers open accounts abroad through their relatives or friends and receive payments there, he said.
“From the government’s point of view, this is a major leakage in the system when people are forced to keep their money abroad,” Hydri said.
Pakistani technology company owners say Paypal launching operations in Pakistan could also solve the problem of stuck up payments abroad.
“Mostly clients in the US and Europe use PayPal,” said Mashal Amir, who heads Octopus Private Limited, a call center. “Whenever they float the project online they attach the conditions of having a PayPal account as well for payment. In Pakistan’s case, we miss opportunities due to non-existence of the facility and due to the payments remaining stuck for many years.”
He added: “The clients often question why they should open new account just for us on other networks when entire world works on PayPal.”
SM Arif, a financial and banking technologist, said the presence of global players like PayPal would allow access for Pakistani freelancers and companies to international markets.
“Otherwise it looks like they are operating in isolation,” Arif said. “To deal with foreigners in the international market you show the world that a conducive environment exists in your country. The big player boost the confidence of all players in that market. It makes you a part of the global economy, the world.”
Pakistan still ‘hopeful’ online payment giant PayPal will play ball
Pakistan still ‘hopeful’ online payment giant PayPal will play ball
- Around 200,000 freelancers, 7,000 small and medium enterprises will benefit if PayPal started operations in Pakistan
- Last week, a parliamentary committee said PayPal was afraid to enter Pakistan in absence of laws to protect company’s interests
Pakistan minister calls for integrating ocean awareness into education to preserve ecosystems
- Pakistan’s maritime sector posted a record $360 million profit in 2025 following a year of sweeping reforms
- Junaid Anwar Chaudhry says education equips youth to make informed decisions, contribute to blue economy
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry has urged integrating ocean awareness into formal education systems and empowering youth as active partners in order to preserve marine ecosystems, his ministry said on Saturday.
Chaudhry said this at a meeting with Minister of State for Education and Professional Training, Wajiha Qamar, who called on him and discussed strategies for enhancing marine education, literacy, and youth engagement in sustainable ocean management.
Pakistan’s maritime sector posted a record Rs100 billion ($360 million) profit in 2025 following a year of sweeping reforms aimed at improving port efficiency, cost-cutting, and safeguarding marine ecosystems to boost the blue economy.
“Understanding our oceans is no longer optional, it is essential for climate resilience, sustainable development, and the long-term health of our maritime resources,” Chaudhry said, highlighting the critical role of marine literacy.
The minister said education equips youth to make informed decisions and actively contribute to marine conservation and the blue economy, urging inclusion of marine ecosystems, conservation and human-ocean interactions into curricula, teacher training and global citizenship programs.
“Initiatives like ‘Ocean Literacy for All’ can mainstream these elements in national policies, school programs, and community workshops to build proactive citizenship on marine challenges,” he added.
Ocean Literacy for All is a UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission–coordinated global initiative under the UN Ocean Decade (2021–2030) that promotes ocean awareness, education, and conservation.
Chaudhry announced reforms in maritime education, including granting degree-awarding status to the Pakistan Marine Academy, and the establishment of the Maritime Educational Endowment Fund (MEEF) to provide scholarships for deserving children from coastal communities.
“The scholarship program promotes inclusive development by enabling access to quality education for youth from over 70 coastal and fishing communities, particularly in Sindh and Balochistan,” he said.
The discussions underscored raising awareness about oceans, coastal ecosystems and marine resources, according to the Pakistani maritime affairs ministry. Both ministers stressed the need to integrate climate and marine education from classrooms
to community programs, addressing risks like rising sea temperatures, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss and pollution.
“Incorporating marine science and ocean literacy into curricula can help students connect local challenges with global trends,” Qamar said, underscoring education’s transformative power in building social resilience.
The meeting explored translating complex marine science into accessible public knowledge through sustained, solution-oriented awareness campaigns, according to the maritime affairs ministry.
With coastline facing pressures from climate change, pollution, and overexploitation, the ministers called for a coordinated approach blending formal education, informal learning and youth-led advocacy.
“A joint effort by the Ministries of Maritime Affairs and Education can cultivate an ocean-literate generation, transforming vulnerability into resilience and ensuring the long-term sustainability of coastal and marine ecosystems,” Chaudhry said.
