PVARA takes tokenisation pitch to World Bank, IFC meetings

Pakistan's virtual assets regulator used the 2026 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Bangkok to pitch tokenised bonds, sukuk and digital capital markets to senior World Bank Group and International Finance Corporation officials, according to a statement from the authority.

Bilal Bin Saqib, Minister of State and chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, met Imad N Fakhoury, regional vice president for the Middle East and Central Asia at the IFC, the World Bank Group's private-sector arm. The authority said the discussions covered potential collaboration on tokenised bonds and sukuk, digital financial infrastructure, cross-border payments and the mobilisation of international private capital, and examined how emerging financial technologies could help Pakistan attract investment and deepen its capital markets.

A separate meeting with Jorge Familiar, vice president and treasurer of the World Bank Group, covered possible cooperation on digital bond issuance, asset tokenisation and AI-enabled financial operations, the statement said. It also cited knowledge exchange and institutional capacity building as areas of discussion.

The authority framed the engagements around modernising Pakistan's financial infrastructure and positioning the country to benefit from asset tokenisation, digital capital markets, artificial intelligence, cross-border payments and technology-enabled regulatory supervision. No agreements, timelines or funding commitments were announced.

The meetings come as Pakistan builds out a regulatory framework for virtual assets, with PVARA established to oversee the sector. The statement did not specify what form any World Bank Group or IFC involvement might take.