The World Bank will lend Pakistan an International Development Association (IDA) loan of $131.5 million for the Digital Economy Enhancement Project (DEEP).
The project’s estimated cost is Rs. 23.692 billion, and it will be implemented in the four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Islamabad Capital Territory, as per official documents available with ProPakistani.
The loan has been offered at an interest rate of 1.65 percent for 30 years, with no interest for the initial five years.
The project is aimed at enhancing digital infrastructure, reducing the digital divide, improving digital governance and service delivery capability, and strengthening policies, laws, and regulations for connectivity, digital transformation, and regulatory reforms.
It targets the creation of an ecosystem of credential and document issuers and verifiers, covering governance, standards, and rules, as well as the digital wallet applications and other softwares to enable people to control their cloud repositories.
It is also intended to leverage emerging approaches and standards such as decentralized identity and Verifiable Credentials (W3C standard) where appropriate for digital wallets to store and share from personal smart devices. Additionally, it will enable people without devices or by choice to store their digital credentials and documents in a personal cloud repository, hosted by the government.
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