Pakistan calls for global cooperation on digital assets

Pakistan has urged for enhanced global collaboration to establish regulatory and institutional frameworks for digital assets, warning that nations must either influence the future of finance or face its consequences. Bilal Bin Saqib, Minister of State and Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), addressed a virtual session at the United Nations Headquarters.

The event, organized by Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN in conjunction with the UNDP, UNCTAD, and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, gathered governments, UN bodies, and private sector players.

Digital assets, tokenization, and distributed ledger technologies offer emerging economies the chance to revamp financial infrastructure, focusing on inclusion, efficiency, and accessibility, Bin Saqib explained. He emphasized that around 1.4 billion adults lack formal financial services, while billions more endure high remittance costs, lengthy settlement times, and restricted credit access.

The minister highlighted that the current expense for transmitting $200 internationally exceeds twice the 3% Sustainable Development Goal 10.c target, suggesting that bridging this gap could return billions of dollars annually to families.

Beyond payments and remittances, digital finance could empower small businesses, farmers, and women entrepreneurs through digital identity and verifiable financial histories, enabling them to document economic activity without relying solely on traditional collateral or paperwork. Tokenization could facilitate capital mobilization by dividing assets like infrastructure bonds and renewable energy projects into fractions, while distributed ledger technology could improve transparency in public spending and supply chains.

However, Bin Saqib cautioned against viewing technology as a panacea for development challenges. He identified risks such as market volatility, illicit finance, economic power concentration, and the regulatory divergence between technologically advanced nations and those lacking institutional capacity. He stressed that regulation must evolve with technological innovation; delayed regulation could expose consumers and markets to risks, while overly fearful regulation might push digital activities into less transparent domains.

Bin Saqib argued that regulation should aim to build markets rather than impede them, urging member states to transform the UN briefing into a catalyst for deeper international cooperation.