Telenor-commissioned report outlines the impact of ‘Telecom Sector’ in Pakistan

Telecommunications-intensive sectors contributed 75% of total economic growth

KARACHI: Telenor Pakistan hosted an event at its 345 campus to share findings from a new connectivity report by Frontier Economics which highlights that the sectors driven by telecommunications in Pakistan contributed three quarters to economic growth. Titled “The Mobile Effect: How Connectivity Enables Growth”, the study commissioned by Telenor Group quantifies impact of the telecommunications sector on the economies in the five Asian countries where Telenor Group operates – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia.

Minister for IT and Telecom, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui was the chief guest at the event, while experts from various fields shared their insights on how telecom is enabling the sectors of economy. The distinguished panel included Håkon Bruaset Kjøl, Senior Vice President at Telenor Group, Kamal Ahmed, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Telenor Pakistan, Sakib Sherani, CEO Macro Economic Insights, Yusuf Hussain, CEO of Ignite, Ms. Silvia Pasti, Chief Child Protection Program at UNICEF and Ms. Shahida Saleem, Team Lead at Impact Network.pk while the other guests included representatives from government bodies, regulator, academia, private sector, entrepreneurs and Telenor Pakistan employees.

Sharing his thoughts on the impact of connectivity, Honorable Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, said, “The role of telecommunications sector in empowering the Pakistani society has been commendable. This is the sector that most of our future inclusion and digitization strategies will be built on. I want to appreciate the telecom sector in general, and Telenor Pakistan in particular, for supporting the government in its national digital and inclusion agenda. I assure you of our full support in all future initiatives that are aimed at empowering the Pakistani people.”

The study reveals that telco-intensive sectors generally contribute a greater proportion to economic growth than others. For Pakistan, these sectors include wholesale and retail trade, maintenance and repair, transport and private households.

Mobile financial services have been on the rise in Asia. This has resulted in a reduction in the urban-rural financial inclusion divide. 18% percent of the Pakistani population made or received digital payments in 2017; 15% of which came from rural Pakistan. Ownership of mobile wallet accounts stood at 7% and a huge share of 6% came from rural areas showing how effectively mobile financial services were bringing the previously excluded masses into the fold of financial inclusion.

“Mobile connectivity has grown and developed by many folds over the past few years and it has certainly become the cornerstone of digital development and transformation across industries.

From 2014 to 2017, Telenor invested $6.2 billion in its five Asian markets, making the company one of the top three foreign investors.

 

About The Author