Telenor Pakistan participated in Mobile Commerce 2009 – The Second International Conference on Mobile Banking’ at a local hotel on Wednesday. A statement said that the conference discussed the prospects of mobile commerce in Pakistan. It pointed out that Telenor Pakistan, already ahead of the telecommunications industry after acquiring Tameer Bank, is set to lead mobile banking in Pakistan. The President and CEO, Jon Eddy Abdullah, was one of the speakers at the conference. He said on the occasion that he was sure that with the support of regulators and collaboration between telcos and banks

Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr Muhammad Yaseen has said that the telecom industry has received a tremendous foreign direct investment of $2 to $3 billion per annum, but expects no further heavy investment in the near future as infrastructure has already been put in place, and now only the services need to be improved and expanded.

Speaking at Mobile Commerce 2009, the second international conference on mobile banking, here on Wednesday, Yaseen said that PTA was concentrating on value added services rather than only on mobile calls as these services were the real market for mobile operators and innovation in the sector was pivotal.

He said that Pakistan had 90 million telecom subscribers, while 95 per cent of the population had signal coverage by all telecom operators and data transfer had also reached 12.5 gigabits.

Dr Aamir Malik, Director of PTA highlighted that in 2009, global mobile commerce (m-commerce) revenue had reached up to US$88 billion. He shared results of a recent survey which showed that 11 per cent of the population has a bank account whereas 56 per cent has mobile phone penetration in Pakistan.

He said that 87 per cent use m-services for location based search, 44 per cent use it for banking, whilst 61 per cent use it for shopping. Malik said that the survey proved that local consumers were ready for m-commerce in the country and therefore there was a lucrative market open for concerned stakeholders.

President of MCB Bank Limited, Atif Aslam Bajwa commented that the basic infrastructure for mobile banking was available. However, the willingness of financial institutions and mobile service providers to work together was a challenge in Pakistan.

Bajwa voiced that it is essential for both the financial institutions and mobile service operators to carry out collaborated efforts as mobile banking would only be successful that way and not in exclusivity. He further stated “PTA has fuelled growth by fostering healthy competition while also concentrating on quality which is the core reason for the telecom sector’s success.”

Speaking to The News, Bajwa also commented that since KIBOR rates had declined, and inflation was also coming down, interest rates in Pakistan would also feel the pressure and banking spread would also reduce significantly in the coming months.

The President of MCB Ltd held that m-commerce was yet in its initial stages in the country and it was too soon to comment on whether it would be a success, but added that there was great potential for it.

Executive Director of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Jameel Ahmad welcomed the introduction of branchless banking in Pakistan and said that SBP had set regulators for it to operate successfully in the country.

Providing a detailed presentation of SBP regulations for mobile commerce, he said that SBP has attempted to incorporate products and services of international level into the emerging Pakistani market.

He said that banks would be at the forefront of all m-commerce activities and would hold all concerns and responsibilities of any transactions being carried out. Ahmad voiced that so far banks have shown a very enthusiastic and positive response towards mobile commerce.

The executive director of SBP also pointed out that even though India has four ATMs for every branch of a bank and Pakistan has only one ATM against 2.6 bank branches, in the past five years, the nation has succeeded in gradually transforming from a paper-based banking system to electronic banking.

He stated that five years ago, banks in the country operated 90 per cent on paper-based facilities and 10 per cent on electronic. Nevertheless, now one-third of the economy is based on electronic transactions and two-thirds on paper and yet, it is rapidly changing into an electronic based economy.

President and CEO of Telenor Pakistan, Jon Eddy Abdullah said, “I am sure that with the support of regulators and collaboration between telecoms and banks, the industry will be able to provide consumers with what they need: easy, affordable access to financial services.”

He commented that mobile banking brings with it facilities such as paper/plastic-free money transactions, bank account maintenance, money transfer, mobile sales, auctions, brokerage and much more.

He said that Pakistan has enormous potential for m-banking with over 80 million mobile users for the lack of a sound banking structure reaching out to only a selected class widens the play area for the mobile sector to explore.

Jon shared that by acquiring Tameer Microfinance Bank in the current economic crunch; Telenor Pakistan not only reassured its commitment to Pakistan and the industry but also projected its intentions to remain ahead of competition when it comes to product innovation.

CEO of A2Z E-payments, Shakir Ullah highlighted the problems in Pakistan due to which m-commerce had not gained popularity as rapidly as it should have. He said that there was no proper legal and regulatory framework for e-commerce and e-payments in Pakistan.

He articulated that social, bureaucratic and political issues had also discouraged the acceptance of e-commerce such as resistance to change, fear of risk and lack of awareness in the local community. He added that most Pakistanis were content with the existing systems and were resistant to new payment methods.

The News

Pakistan’s geo‑strategic location, trained work force and the investment policies make it a suitable destination for investment and the Canadian business community need to avail these opportunities , Pakistan’s Acting High Commissioner for Pakistan Mrs. Naela Chohan said. The Acting High Commissioner was addressing the business community of Canada and other countries at a function organised by Canada‑Pakistan Business Council and Trade and Investment Services Alliance (TISA) at Toronto, to highlight Pakistan’s trade and investment potential.

She said Pakistan with a population of more than 160 million people and a growing middle class offers great incentives to foreign investors particularly in energy, mining, power generation, financial sector, infrastructure development and IT & Telecom. Pakistan has announced special policy initiatives for international investments in these sectors, she added.

She said it was heartening to note that the key variable such as GDP growth, foreign exchange reserves, workers’ remittances, FDI and stock markets have shown a healthy increasing rate in Pakistan at par or even better than other emerging economies.

About investment policies of the government she said Pakistan has an effective legal regime to protect foreign investments. World Bank ranked Pakistan globally at 19th position on protecting investments and it was placed at the 77 position among 181 countries around the globe in terms of ease of doing business in 2009.

Naela Chohan said the government has ensured equal treatment of local and foreign investors, all economic sectors were open to foreign businessmen and procedures have been simplified to facilitate investments.

She said in spite of global financial crisis, Pakistan continues to receive Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).During July‑December 2008 Pakistan received over US$ 2.32 billion of FDI. Pakistan’s current account deficit narrowed down by 43% during July ‑ December, 2008 compared to the same period of 2007. The fall in the prices of oil, fertilizer, wheat and audible oil are likely to bring down further both the trade deficit and the current account deficit.

The Acting High Commissioner appreciated Canada‑Pakistan Business Council for playing an admirable role in bringing closer the business communities of Pakistan and Canada and strengthening the commercial relations between them and assured CBC and TISA of support to reinforce mutually advantageous economic relations between Pakistan and Canada.

David Geldart, President TISA said, the alliance was working to develop 4‑way business between Canada and Pakistan i.e. imports, exports, Foreign Direct investment to Canada (FDI) and Canadian Direct Investments Abroad (CDIA). He said TISA was also interested in third party deals and several TISA members were working with Portuguese officials to do JV work in the former Portuguese colonies in Africa. TISA looks forward to a fruitful relationship with Pakistan, he added.

TISA is Ontario’s Premier professional service Association. Unique in Canada it has cross‑sector representation from trade, financial, legal, management, engineering,supply chain etc. TISA networks regularly to share information and opportunities as identified by our private sector sources and government partners.