KARACHI: Pakistan will enter Amazon’s approved sellers list before next month, the commerce ministry has said, warning the nation’s sellers they would be blacklisted not only by Amazon but also within the country if found guilty of fraudulent activity.
The ministry has been working with the global e-commerce giant since June 2020 to have sellers from the South Asian nation included in its network which already covers 102 countries. To date, Pakistani users have sold their products on Amazon through shadow accounts registered in other countries.
“Listing of Pakistan at Amazon is just a matter of 3 to 4 days,” Aisha Humera, a spokesperson for the ministry of commerce, told Arab News on Wednesday. “Will be done before June.”
She added: “At present we are working on our procedures, including changes in the foreign exchange manual of the State bank of Pakistan.”
Humera said Pakistan’s Amazon entry will come with zero tolerance for fraud.
“We are coordinating with Amazon and any seller, if found guilty of fraud etc., will not only be blocked but also be blacklisted in Pakistan so that they could not work with any other company for tarnishing the image of Pakistan,” she said. “The sellers will have only one chance to get connected with 300 million customers at a single click. If anyone wastes this opportunity by doing anything wrong, Amazon will block that seller and there will be no second chance.”
While businesses can use couriers of their choice, the ministry has proposed that state-owned Pakistan Post set up dedicated desks for the export of small parcels at it has over 13,000 offices across the country. The commerce ministry had also proposed that Pakistan Post be integrated with the country’s Web Based One Customs (WeBOC) to facilitate Amazon sellers under business-to-consumer (B2C) cross border mechanisms.
It is also trying to have the post office offer competitive rates to e-commerce businesses, especially small and medium enterprises.
“The Ministry of commerce is engaging Pakistan Post in this initiative to give competitive rates to the sellers,” Humera said. “If they had to deliver the goods to the warehouses of Amazon for instance in Dubai, US or Canada, they should get good rates.”
Pakistan to enter Amazon’s sellers list this month — commerce ministry
https://arab.news/juz6v
Pakistan to enter Amazon’s sellers list this month — commerce ministry
- Ministry says instances of fraud would result in companies being blacklisted not only by Amazon but also within Pakistan
- State-run Pakistan Post urged to facilitate e-commerce with dedicated desks, offer “competitive rates” for small and medium businesses
Pakistan, global crypto exchange discuss modernizing digital payments, creating job prospects
- Pakistani officials, Binance team discuss coordination between Islamabad, local banks and global exchanges
- Pakistan has attempted to tap into growing crypto market to curb illicit transactions, improve oversight
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance officials and the team of a global cryptocurrency exchange on Friday held discussions aimed at modernizing the country’s digital payments system and building local talent pipelines to meet rising demand for blockchain and Web3 skills, the finance ministry said.
The development took place during a high-level meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman Bilal bin Saqib, domestic bank presidents and a Binance team led by Global CEO Richard Teng. The meeting was held to advance work on Pakistan’s National Digital Asset Framework, a regulatory setup to govern Pakistan’s digital assets.
Pakistan has been moving to regulate its fast-growing crypto and digital assets market by bringing virtual asset service providers (VASPs) under a formal licensing regime. Officials say the push is aimed at curbing illicit transactions, improving oversight, and encouraging innovation in blockchain-based financial services.
“Participants reviewed opportunities to modernize Pakistan’s digital payments landscape, noting that blockchain-based systems could significantly reduce costs from the country’s $38 billion annual remittance flows,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
“Discussions also emphasized building local talent pipelines to meet rising global demand for blockchain and Web3 skills, creating high-value employment prospects for Pakistani youth.”
Blockchain is a type of digital database that is shared, transparent and tamper-resistant. Instead of being stored on one computer, the data is kept on a distributed network of computers, making it very hard to alter or hack.
Web3 refers to the next generation of the Internet built using blockchain, focusing on giving users more control over their data, identity and digital assets rather than big tech companies controlling it.
Participants of the meeting also discussed sovereign debt tokenization, which is the process of converting a country’s debt such as government bonds, into digital tokens on a blockchain, the ministry said.
Aurangzeb called for close coordination between the government, domestic banks and global exchanges to modernize Pakistan’s payment landscape.
Participants of the meeting also discussed considering a “time-bound amnesty” to encourage users to move assets onto regulated platforms, stressing the need for stronger verifications and a risk-mitigation system.
Pakistan has attempted in recent months to tap into the country’s growing crypto market, crack down on money laundering and terror financing, and promote responsible innovation — a move analysts say could bring an estimated $25 billion in virtual assets into the tax net.
In September, Islamabad invited international crypto exchanges and other VASPs to apply for licenses to operate in the country, a step aimed at formalizing and regulating its fast-growing digital market.
