KARACHI: The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is leading to large numbers of Pakistanis learning Mandarin, the official language of China, with at least five religious seminaries in Karachi offering courses.
“People are willing to offer high salaries to anyone who knows Mandarin,” Jawad Madani, who runs the Jamia Sattaria Islamia religious school, told Arab News.
Unlike other religious institutes, Madani’s views languages as a medium of communication rather than a tool of cultural invasion.
“We started teaching Mandarin about two years ago. Initially, we enrolled students once or twice a year,” he said.
“But demand has increased to a level that we’ve almost started admitting new students on a monthly basis.”
The University of Karachi has established the Confucius Institute, which has nearly 400 students and employs several Chinese instructors.
The provincial government of Sindh has gone one step further by introducing a teachers’ training program.
“We plan to train about 200 teachers of Mandarin within a year,” said Liaquat Ali Jamro, one of the directors at the province’s vocational training authority. “These teachers will then be deployed in 12 regional centers.”
Jamro said the provincial authorities want to take this program to all major districts of Sindh. “It’s a demand-driven phenomenon,” he added.
“The idea is to harness the financial potential of CPEC and help our people benefit from the project.”
Given the growing number of people who are eager to learn Mandarin, many private entities have also decided to enter the burgeoning business.
“Initially the number of students was in the hundreds, but the situation has changed and thousands of people are looking for admissions,” said Madani.
“There are also several businesses that have reached out to us. Many of them are even willing to hire our students who are still at the beginner’s level.”
For most of the students, money is the main motivation, 30-year-old Usman Hanif told Arab News. This realization led him to enroll in the Confucius Institute.
Hanif said he could find a lucrative job not only in Pakistan but anywhere in the region, since China’s One Belt One Road is an international initiative.
Some experts in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language, have welcomed this trend and describe it as a necessary part of cultural diffusion.
“This will not entail drastic consequences for our language,” said poet and linguist Sehar Ansari.
“We should learn the Chinese language since that will introduce us to people who speak that language and open new avenues of success.”
CPEC brings growing demand for Mandarin courses in Pakistan
CPEC brings growing demand for Mandarin courses in Pakistan
POLL: Pakistan central bank set to deliver sixth consecutive rate cut to revive economy
- On the inflation side, 56 percent participants of the poll expect inflation to remain below 8 percent this fiscal year
- Pakistan requires ‘considerable efforts, additional measures’ to meet revenue target, central bank says
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s central bank is expected to deliver a sixth consecutive policy rate cut this month, a poll found on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Jan. 27.
The State Bank of Pakistan cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points to 13 percent on Dec. 16. This was the fifth straight reduction since June as Pakistan keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.
The move made last year’s cuts one of the most aggressive among emerging market central banks in the current easing cycle. Cumulatively, the SBP cut rates by 900 basis points in the last year.
In a poll conducted by Karachi-based Topline Securities, 61 percent of the participants expected that the central bank will announce a rate cut of 100 basis points.
“Participants are expecting rate cut due to high real rates of 950bps in Jan. 2025, compared to historic average of 200-300bps, despite 900bps cut in total interest rates in last five consecutive meetings since Jun 2024,” Topline Securities said on Tuesday.
“We also hold the view that the SBP will announce a rate cut of 100bps, taking total cut to 1000bps. This will be 6th consecutive cut of this cycle.”
In Dec. the MPC assessed that its approach of measured policy rate cuts was keeping inflationary and external account pressures in check, while supporting economic growth on a sustainable basis.
The central bank noted that it expected inflation to average “substantially below” its earlier forecast range of 11.5 percent to 13.5 percent in 2025.
On the inflation side, 56 percent of the participants expected inflation to remain below 8 percent this fiscal year (July 2024-June 2025), according to Topline Securities.
The South Asian country is navigating a challenging economic recovery path and has been buttressed by a $7 billion facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September.
The central bank has said that “considerable efforts and additional measures” will be required for Pakistan to meet its annual revenue target, a key focus of the IMF agreement.
Historic Islamic alliance pledges to improve access to education for girls
- The Islamabad Declaration for Girls’ Education affirms girls’ education as both a religious obligation and societal necessity
- The summit in Pakistan capital brought together diverse range of religious schools as well as activists like Malala Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: Islamic religious, political and civil leaders have united in a historic campaign to improve access to education for girls and women.
The Islamabad Declaration for Girls’ Education affirms girls’ education as both a religious obligation and societal necessity.
It brings together a diverse range of religious schools of law including Deobandi, Hanafi and Haqqani schools, as well as gender activists like Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai and political and civil society leaders.
The declaration was signed during a conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, convened by Saudi Arabia’s Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League and chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars.
“I am imagining this conference as a beginning of a new journey, where we commit to a future for every girl to have access to complete quality education,” Yousafzai said in a statement.
“I want to thank the Muslim World League. Your Excellency Al-Issa; you have brought us together to address the barriers holding girls back from their right to go to school.”
Al-Issa added that the gathering “will not merely be a ‘call,’ a ‘declaration,’ or simply a ‘statement of stance.’
“Rather, it will represent a qualitative transformation in supporting girls’ education — a change that will bring joy to every deprived girl,” he said.
Religious leaders who affirmed the declaration include senior figures from the Deobandi school in Pakistan and India, leading Hanafi jurists, and the presidency of Darul Uloom Haqqania, Sheikh Anwarul Haq Haqqani.
Others included the Grand Mufti of Pakistan Sheikh Muhammad Taqi Usmani; the Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Dr. Nazir Mohammad Ayad; the Amir of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Pakistan) Sheikh Fazl-ul-Rahman bin Mufti Mahmood; the President of Ulema Council of Pakistan Sheikh Tahir Mahmoud Ashrafi; and the President of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (India) Sheikh Syed Arshad Madani.
“This gathering brings together the intellectual capital of the Muslim world not just to appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face, but also as a declaration of our resolve to overcome all these impediments,” said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
In addition, the Muslim World League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation agreed on a number of practical measures to improve access to education.
One of these measures is an awareness campaign by a number of educational centers and scholars.
Another is a new Islamic Educational Alliance drawing on a diverse and influential network of religious leaders, intellectuals, policy experts and academics from leading Islamic universities worldwide
The Muslim World League will also partner with a number of international organizations including the UN Refugee Agency and UN University for Peace to further the cause of providing access to education for women.
The summit brought together more than 150 dignitaries from 44 Muslim and other friendly states, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Office.
Peshawar Zalmi bolster bowling line-up for PSL 2025 with Corbin Bosch, Mohammad Ali
- The Pakistan Super League 2025 is scheduled to take place between April 8 and May 19, with 116 players from 10 countries
- Babar Azam says weather will have a lot to do with this year’s PSL and they have kept combination according to conditions
ISLAMABAD: Peshawar Zalmi have bolstered their bowling line-up for this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) with the inclusion of Corbin Bosch and Mohammad Ali, skipper Babar Azam said on Tuesday.
The statement after all six PSL franchises assembled their squads at the glittering PSL 2025 Player Draft in Lahore. The Twenty20 tournament is scheduled to take place between April 8 and May 19, with 116 players from 10 countries.
Azam said they had included all-rounders and further improved their bowling line-up, expressing his satisfaction over the selection of players for this year’s PSL edition.
“The main thing that we have discussed is our combination. Our batting line-up is very good and we have further improved bowling,” he said in a video shared on Tuesday.
Azam said they attached “great priority to bowlers” and picked South African Corbin Bosch and Muhammad Ali.
“So, these two picks of ours are very good, and the difficult numbers are 5 and 6. In that, you have to bring in a game-changer element and choose such a player, so we have seen that spark in him [Ali],” he said.
“We have seen that thing, that he can have a different impact. So, we have picked him in that sense, the way he played in the Champions Cup and the way he made an impact, he should make the same impact in this PSL.”
The Zalmi skipper said weather will have a lot to do with this year’s PSL and they have kept the combination according to the conditions.
“We have the spinner, Sufiyan Muqeem, with us,” he said. “So, we have made a very good combination and we are following the plan.”
Peshawar Zalmi squad: Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Corbin Bosch, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Hussain Talat, Nahid Rana, Arif Yaqoob, Najeebullah Zadran, Max Bryant, Mehran Mumtaz, Sufyan Moqim, Ali Raza and Maaz Sadaqat
Supplementary players – Ahmed Daniyal and Alzarri Joseph
Pakistan says in ‘advanced’ talks with Saudi Arabia for investment in copper, gold mines
- Saudi Arabia last year offered Pakistan a 15 percent investment stake in the Reko Diq copper and gold mine
- Reko Diq, one of largest copper-gold mine, is jointly owned by Canadian firm Barrick Gold Corp. and Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are in “advanced” stages of talks relating to investment in Pakistan’s copper and gold mines, Pakistani Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said on Tuesday.
Pakistan has taken steps in recent months to attract foreign investment in its mining sector. The South Asian country is home to the Reko Diq copper and gold mine that is located in its southwestern Balochistan province.
Reko Diq, one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold mine, is jointly owned by Canadian mining firm Barrick Gold Corp. and Pakistan. Last year, Saudi Arabia offered Pakistan a 15 percent investment stake in the project, Pakistani state media reported in September.
Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, Malik said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were in advanced stages of conversations about a “very large asset,” and had done all the requisite homework in this regard.
“Both sides have come up with valuation frameworks, the valuation ranges are in place, and both of the teams are empowered now to negotiate, and right now, we are under non-disclosure. So, I can’t give you the details, but suffice to say that we are expecting very big announcements very soon,” he said.
“It depends, I mean in mining, it’s going to be the mining assets, particularly the copper mining assets, copper and gold mining assets. So, we are very hopeful about that.”
Reuters reported that Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals could invest in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine in the next two quarters, citing the Pakistani petroleum minister.
Manara, a joint venture between Saudi state-controlled miner Ma’aden and the $925-billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), was set up as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to diversify its economy away from oil, including by buying minority stakes in assets overseas.
“I’m very hopeful that in the next quarter or two we will have very big announcements,” Malik was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“So, we’re very hopeful that this year, we will make some big announcements, both in the way of Reko Diq, but hopefully also” in mines around it, he added.
Asked if Manara would be involved, Malik said, “why not, of course.” Reuters said Manara did not immediately respond to its emailed request for comment.
Manara executives visited Pakistan in May last year for talks about buying a stake in the Reko Diq mine. Manara’s then-acting chief executive Robert Wilt, now CEO of Ma’aden, told Reuters that a stake in Reko Diq was among several opportunities the company was evaluating.
Pakistan is also in talks with other Gulf countries about mining opportunities, Malik added.
Iraq, Pakistan sign MoU to boost workforce exchange, strengthen industrial partnership
- Development occurred at the 9th JMC session held since its last meeting in Islamabad over two decades ago
- Both countries discuss industrial cooperation, particularly in export processing zones, in a number of fields
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iraq on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the provision of workforce between the two countries while agreeing to strengthen industrial collaboration, according to an official statement.
The MoU was part of the 9th session of the Pakistan-Iraq Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC), which was historic for being the first such interaction held since the last meeting in Islamabad over two decades ago in 2001.
Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan arrived in Baghdad a day earlier to lead his country’s delegation at the talks and was received by Iraq’s Minister for Housing and Construction Bangen Rekani at the Baghdad International Airport.
“The purpose of the JMC was to enhance economic, trade and cultural ties, which culminated in the signing of several key memorandums of understanding, including an agreement on the provision of workforce between the two countries,” the statement said.
During the meeting, both sides explored avenues for collaboration in various sectors. Religious tourism emerged as a key area of interest, while discussions also highlighted opportunities for industrial cooperation, particularly in export processing zones and fields such as textiles, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
Health and education partnerships were emphasized as well, with plans for scholarships for Iraqi students and training programs in health care, vaccine production and biotechnology.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Pakistani minister reaffirmed his country’s commitment to deepening its ties with Iraq.
“The economic potential between Pakistan and Iraq is immense, and today’s agreements provide a roadmap for achieving our shared goals,” he said.
The minister highlighted reforms introduced in Pakistan to attract foreign investment and urged Iraq to ease visa restrictions for traders from his country to promote bilateral trade and cultural exchanges.
He expressed optimism the decisions made during the JMC would pave the way for significant progress in bilateral trade, investment and cultural exchanges.
Khan also invited Iraq to participate in the 10th session of the ministerial commission in Pakistan to review progress and plan future initiatives.
