ISLAMABAD: Pakistan should draw lessons from Saudi Arabia in digitizing its economy to harness the true potential of its workforce, speakers at a roundtable conference organized by an Islamabad-based think tank said on Tuesday. 

The conference, titled: ‘E-Governance in Saudi Arabia: Opportunities and Lessons for Pakistan,’ was held at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in collaboration with WE World News. 

Dr. Majid Bhatti, chief executive officer of the National Information Technology Board (NTB), was the chief guest at the event, while Ambassador Vice Admiral (retired) Khan Hasham bin Saddique, who previously served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, also attended.

“It was underscored and appreciated that Saudi Arabia with a population of around 40 million has made great strides in information technology, and its desire to digitize the society has transformed it within a span of less than a decade,” IPRI said in a press release.

The speakers praised the Kingdom for diversifying its economy away from being an oil-based one toward a digital revolution, noting that Saudi Arabia had acquired the best talent and expertise from around the world in its pursuit of setting up infrastructure for e-commerce and e-governance. 

“While drawing parallels, it was noted that though Pakistan possesses some of the great talent and industrious initiatives, it is a lack of digital foundations that ails it,” the statement said. 

“This is why Saudi Arabia today is successfully erecting a triangular pyramid of digital society, digital economy and digital governance; and this is rapidly transforming its economy from oil to digital in context.”

Pakistan’s fundamental problem as it took the digital and e-governance route, speakers said, was a lack of facilities to opt for digital financial transactions. 

“This aspect must be studied at length, and similarly by setting up smart cities, Pakistan can address many of its governance-related problems in a better way by documenting it on digitization,” the statement said. 

Speakers at the conference emphasized the importance of digital literacy in Pakistan and the need for transparent infrastructure, adding that factors such as a high cost of energy, lack of infrastructure and absence of regulations were hindering Pakistan from taking strides in e-governance. They said a state-sponsored policy to facilitate the private sector was the need of the hour in order to harness Pakistan’s full potential.