Finance minister asks Alibaba for ideas on taxing Pakistan's ecommerce
Muhammad Aurangzeb also discussed the Pakistan Single Window platform, Pakistan Post's sorting systems and farm exports to China in Bangkok.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has invited Alibaba to propose changes to how Pakistan taxes online sales. He made the request on 15 October in Bangkok, in a meeting with the leadership of Alibaba International Digital Commerce, the group's overseas ecommerce arm, according to a Finance Division release.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Bank Group and IMF Annual Meetings. Aurangzeb asked for proposals that would rationalise ecommerce taxation, balancing fairness with wider participation in the tax system.
Daraz and the exporters
The minister thanked Alibaba for supporting small businesses, local brands and exporters through Daraz and Alibaba.com. Daraz, Alibaba's marketplace in Pakistan, reached group level profit in August and opened a licensed online pharmacy the same month. Any change to ecommerce tax would land first on marketplaces like it, their sellers and the delivery firms that serve them.
Both sides discussed speeding up the Pakistan Single Window ecommerce platform and tracking cross border payments and export proceeds more closely. They also explored ways to expand farm exports to China through Alibaba's retail network.
Payments, cloud and the post office
Digital payments and a cashless economy were on the agenda, including more transparent delivery of social protection payments and targeted subsidies. The two sides also discussed cooperation on cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence and tax administration, with an emphasis on integrated data systems, cybersecurity and institutional capacity. Another item was the modernisation of Pakistan Post's sorting systems.
Same day, a financing meeting
On the same day Aurangzeb met Adeeb Y. Al Aama, chief executive of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, according to a separate Finance Division release. The minister pointed to stronger reserves and renewed access to international capital markets. The two sides reviewed the remaining financing tranche and agreed that technical teams would explore adjustments to pricing and financing volume.
Aurangzeb also repeated plans to replace costly short term borrowing with longer maturity financing without raising external debt. The ITFC talks also covered digital product passports for textile exports to the European Union and single window connectivity for trade with ASEAN. No agreement was signed with Alibaba, and the release sets no deadline for the tax proposals.
