China has promised to enhance its cooperation for the ambitious Digital Silk Road (DSR) project but Pakistan’s low digital economy and shortage of digital talent are putting major roadblocks in the realization of the project. During the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) international cooperation summit forum in 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to enhance cooperation with Pakistan in vast areas of the digital economy, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and quantum computing, reported Islam Khabar. There were a few attractive takeaways for Pakistan in China’s DSR pitch. However, Pakistan needs to look into its broken digital architecture which is not in alignment with China’s Digital Silk Road hopes.
There is a wide gap in Pakistan’s digital progress in terms of gender. There are cultural barriers and terrorism. All of this is a setback for Pakistan. Though China has sold dreams to Pakistan under DSR there are hard facts that prove that the plan is farfetched.
Pakistan’s overall GDP is USD 280 billion and the per capita GDP of less than USD 1,400, according to World Bank data 2021. With this low level of economic base, the situation is wary for Pakistan to be able to play a similar kind of role as China in the DSR project.
President Xi announced the initiative during official visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013. The plan was two-pronged: the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road. The two were collectively referred to first as the...
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