Industrialists for transition to digital economy

Propose adoption of Chinese model, creation of computing hubs

LAHORE:

Pakistan-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President Nazir Hussain has suggested the transformation of Pakistan's industrial economy to a digitalised system as per the Chinese model that has proved to be the best.

During discussions on digitalisation of the national economy at the PCJCCI on Friday, he said "we should set up integrated computing network hubs across the country to boost the digital economy and provide a fresh impetus for development".

The PCJCCI president said that data centres and computing networks would be the key accelerators for the adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain, and would help fuel digital transformation and high-quality industrial development.

Under the plan, China is setting up national hubs in key areas including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster, Guizhou province and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

He suggested that the same model should be replicated in Pakistan's major business cities and regions such as Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Hyderabad and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Speaking on the occasion, PCJCCI Senior Vice President Mansoor Saeed Sheikh said that China had planned to build national integrated computing network hubs as part of its ongoing efforts to accelerate the "new infrastructure" construction and promote green, high-quality development of the digital economy.

"We can also adopt this technique to boost the development of large-scale data centres as well as build data centre clusters in key regions. This will support businesses such as industrial internet, financial securities, disaster warning, telemedicine and video calls," he said.

PCJCCI Vice President Zafar Iqbal was of the view that the new move would help to achieve a structural balance between data centres in the eastern and western regions, and boost innovation in big data applications.

PCJCCI Secretary General Salahuddin Hanif said that the big data industry would be a key driving force in the transition from an industrial economy to a digital economy. It would be a big push to continuously accelerate the development of 5G networks and fibre optic networks to create a new intelligent ecosystem, he added.