ISLAMABAD: Pakistan took a significant step forward in its digital transformation journey on Wednesday, as leaders from government, finance, and technology came together at the National Incubation Center (NIC) Karachi for a high-profile event focused on the future of digital economy and virtual assets.
The event, jointly organized by REIT Academy Pakistan, IRADAM, and Blockanica Technologies, featured keynote addresses, panel discussions, and stakeholder engagement on blockchain innovation, asset tokenization, and the regulatory roadmap for digital finance in Pakistan, said a press release.
Addressing the event Khurram Schehzad, Advisor to the Minister for Finance & Revenue, outlined the government’s vision and decisive steps toward a regulated, innovation-ready digital finance framework.
He credited Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb for spearheading reform by establishing the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) and championing the recently enacted PVARA Ordinance 2025, which formalizes the virtual assets regime in Pakistan.
“We’re not just experimenting with crypto we are building the foundations of a secure, Shariah-aligned, and forward-looking digital economy and virtual assets ecosystem,” he said adding that this includes clear regulations, robust compliance, and greater financial inclusion.”
He emphasized coordination across key regulators including the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Ministry of IT, and Ministry of Law, noting that Pakistan is aligning its policies with AML/FATF guidelines while building trust through institutions like SBP and SECP.
He also highlighted the government’s broader economic strategy, which includes, privatization of major state owned enterprises including PIA, ZTBL, and DISCOs during fiscal year 2026, pensions and rightsizing of federal government.
Energy and tax reforms with digitization of public finance optimization and climate adoptions, digitization and tokenization of real-world assets, including real estate, mining, and others, while building blockchain/web 3.0 for finance, agriculture and other sectors.
The strategy also includes mining sector reforms focused on copper and rare earth reserves, ecosystem development through private credit and startup seed capital, amongst other impact financing measures.
In the meanwhile, Pakistan’s pioneering Real Estate Tokenization (RET) Management and Issuer company has announced successfully completion of its blockchain-based Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) testing under the SECP Regulatory Sandbox.
Reinforcing Pakistan’s commitment to innovation and education in this domain, Khurram Schehzad also formally inaugurated the Real-World Asset (RWA) Tokenization Academy, launched in partnership with NIC Karachi, IBA CEIF, Barsols Legal Chamber, and Blockanica Technologies.
The event featured thought leaders including Nasim Beg (Arif Habib Consultancy), Ali Farid Khawaja (CeDAR), Humza Khan (Binance), Ayaz Uqaili (Sindh IT), and Mr. Azfar Hussain (Director, NIC Karachi), who hosted the event and underscored NIC’s role in enabling frontier technologies and digital entrepreneurship.
These leaders emphasized Pakistan’s large crypto-ready user base, job creation potential, and the urgency of investor protections.
Panelists discussed the evolving legal framework under PVARA, the launch of the Digital Nation Act, and the mechanics of blockchain-based real estate tokenization, led by representatives from DigiEstate and NextchainX.
