Pakistan official promotes AI and tokenization for financial inclusion at UN forum

Bilal Bin Saqib, Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), addressed the Social Business, Youth and Technology Forum during the 81st UN General Assembly session. He advocated for the use of artificial intelligence and tokenization as primary drivers for financial inclusion in the developing world.

Saqib highlighted a global systemic gap where approximately 1.3 billion adults lack access to financial institutions, despite 900 million of those individuals having access to mobile phones. He argued that the primary challenge is not a lack of technology, but the need for appropriate financial infrastructure and regulation. He noted that while technology and regulation are necessary, true inclusion occurs only when they intersect.

Regarding Pakistan's regulatory landscape, Saqib noted the country's shift from restricting digital assets in 2018 to establishing a framework through the Virtual Assets Act 2026. This includes a regulatory sandbox and licensing for service providers. Pakistan currently maintains one of the world's largest and youngest virtual asset user bases, with over 40 million users.