Press Release: The U.S. Embassy Islamabad, in conjunction with the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), hosted a one day seminar here in Islamabad. The theme of the event was to discuss financial inclusion and e-commerce.
A panel discussion on financial inclusion in Pakistan was held, where representatives from MasterCard spoke about how the company assists with establishing financial inclusion in other countries. The second panel discussion was centered around the convergence of fixed/mobile telecommunications platforms and the potential impact on e-commerce.
The dialogue at the event also covered the link between regulations, digital transactions, and mobile banking, a topic that is in line with Pakistan’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy’s goal of having 100 million Pakistanis gain access to banking services.
Along with PTA experts, speakers and panelists included officials from the State Bank of Pakistan, the World Bank, Pakistani telecommunications companies and internet service providers.
According to the official statement,
This was the first-ever joint U.S. Commercial Law Development Program and USAID seminar dealing with financial inclusion in Pakistan and is part of our broader effort to promote private sector-led inclusive growth in Pakistan, and will serve as a foundation for developing similar programming in the future.