Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 08, 2025

Saudi-led Digital Cooperation Organization supports women's participation in Pakistan's digital economy

Saudi-led Digital Cooperation Organization supports women's participation in Pakistan's digital economy

The Saudi-led Digital Cooperation Organization is supporting women's participation in Pakistan's digital economy, DCO Secretary-General Deemah Al-Yahya said on Thursday during her visit to Islamabad.
According to the World Economic Forum, women make up 55 percent of the world’s unbanked population, meaning they have no access to banking or insurance products. The World Bank estimates that in Pakistan, where about 100 million adults have no bank account, only 11 percent women have access to overall financial services.

The DCO was launched by Saudi Arabia in November last year to strengthen cooperation across innovation-driven sectors and accelerate the growth of the digital economy. The organization's founding members are also Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Oman, and Pakistan.

Al-Yahya arrived in Pakistan for meetings with President Dr. Arif Alvi, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Information Technology Minister Syed Aminul Haque, and private sector leaders to support the inclusive development of the digital economy and to strengthen the organization's partnerships with Pakistan.

"As female digital inclusion is core to DCO's mandate, I endorse the Pakistan Government’s efforts to enable women to benefit from the digital economy, including through the Digital Pakistan Policy and Universal Access Fund," she told Arab News after her delegation's meeting with the Pakistani president.

"These initiatives are making a real impact through including girls in the technology industry and connecting underserved regional communities to the internet."

In a Twitter post, Al-Yahya shared a photo with students of the COMSATS University Islamabad, saying she was inspired meeting "ambitious young women closing the gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)."

She has also hosted sessions with Pakistani tech leaders who are developing finance products for the unbanked using mobile technology, and education platforms enabling school students to study online.

"I am delighted to be meeting with young Pakistan entrepreneurs creating digital solutions, and to see innovative IT companies such as including Oraan, Maqsad, and Tez Financial connecting more Pakistanis to the digital economy," Al-Yahya said.

Oraan has recently made headlines for raising $3 million in the largest seed funding closed by a women-led Pakistani startup.

Al-Yahya earlier this week launched with Islamabad officials the Pakistan Innovation Challenge for 1 million students aged six to 18.

"The students will learn maths, computer science, robotics, artificial intelligence, design and innovation online," she said. "If young people don’t have skills, if women are left out, or if entrepreneurs are strangled by bureaucracy, we will all struggle."

As she highlighted the importance of the digital economy in a world where more and more activities are being done online, Al-Yahya said she was privileged to be entrusted by Saudi leadership and DCO member states to lead the organization and "carry forward this major global outreach."

"Seventy percent of the world’s economic growth will be driven by the digital economy over the next decade, so there are enormous opportunities for people, companies and countries in the digital economy," she said.

"The fact that the DCO is headquartered in Riyadh reflects Saudi Arabia’s position as a constructive, collaborative global leader in the new world economy, and I take this same approach when engaging with governments as leader of the DCO."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
×