According to officials and IT businesses, Pakistan’s startups and expertise in the information technology sector would have more options to access the Gulf market thanks to the Saudi-led Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO).
On November 26, Saudi Arabia introduced the DCO in an effort to improve collaboration amongst industries that value innovation and hasten the development of the digital economy.
Pakistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates are among the group’s members.
Pakistani Startups and IT
Imran Ghazali, general manager of the government’s digital media wing, who has taken part in all DCO meetings thus far, declared that “Pakistan has immense talent in the IT field.”
“Through this forum, a lot of collaborations will take place which will benefit Pakistani entrepreneurs and IT startups.”
“It is a positive step for Pakistan and will benefit the country as well as entrepreneurs and IT startups,” said Ghazali, noting that India currently controlled the majority of IT firms in the Gulf region.
“Through this collaboration the share in the growing IT market of the Gulf countries will increase for Pakistani companies, which is not up to the mark so far,” he said. “Saudi Arabia has revolutionized its IT infrastructure and Pakistanis can benefit from it.”
The DCO secretariat will be based in Saudi Arabia for the duration of its first year, then move to other members of the organization, including Pakistan, on a rotating basis.
The primary focus of the group’s inaugural meeting was enhancing the digital economy, with a special emphasis on e-commerce and partnerships to increase knowledge exchange among DCO members, according to Ghazali.
Improving Pakistan’s digital inclusion is also on the DCO agenda because more than half of the country’s population lacks access to the Internet.
“The other aim is to support youth and women entrepreneurs in their startups,” Ghazali said. “The organization will also work for enhancing digital cooperation in the fields of health and education,” he said.
The organization will make it easier for Pakistani businesses to reach the Gulf market, according to Faizaan Ghauri, CEO of WRLD, a company that makes immersive 3D maps of the world.
“Anyone who is looking to engage the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] region, they have to talk yo lot of relevant people on the ground and they have this platform to make new connections and present their solutions,” he told Arab News. “Pakistan’s young generation and startups are quick adopters so they can adapt the regional requirements quickly to benefit from this opportunity which is quite huge.”
Ghauri continued by saying that the DCO would offer Pakistan a significant potential in the area of data security, “This regional platform can help us in protecting our data in a better way.”
Other industry participants claim that as of now, it is unclear what is necessary for them to participate in the new platform.
“Majority of our IT startups and professionals did not know about this,” Anis Sheikh, chief executive of award-winning artificial intelligence startup BaseH Sheikh, told Arab News, commenting on the DCO. “Government has to create awareness in them so that they can effectively utilize the opportunities created through this platform.”
“We have been doing amazing work in the IT and AI fields,” he added, “but need proper connection to utilize the potential of the Gulf market.”
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