KARACHI: A local startup connecting overseas Pakistanis with their families through a mobile app plans to set up new facilities in Dubai and other parts of the South Asian region as part of its international outreach plan to facilitate greater number of immigrant families, its founder said on Saturday.
Launched in August, the InstaKin app has been downloaded by Pakistani nationals residing in 86 countries who want to resolve immediate family issues back home.
Several Pakistani startups in recent months have captured the attention of global venture capitalists, attracting over $300 million during the course of this year.
Most recently, an online travel and ticketing platform, Bookme.pk, and a beauty and fashion startup, Bagallery, raised $7.5 million and $4.5 million, respectively, in Series A rounds.
“Our majority customers are based in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, apart from Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. The Middle East is therefore an important market for our company,” Yasir Shirazi, the founder and chief executive officer of InstaKin, told Arab News.
“Setting up teams in other South Asian countries will also facilitate members of the region’s other diaspora communities working in the Middle East, whether they belong to Sri Lanka or Bangladesh,” he continued. “We already have two offices in Karachi and the United States. The third one will be established in Dubai.”
The InstaKin mobile app offers various services, including delivery of medicines and food, bill payments, legal services and property management. The platform hopes to tap more than 38 million South Asian immigrants, including nearly 10 million overseas Pakistanis.
The Dubai office having a local team would also facilitate financial services through local banks, according to the InstaKin CEO.
“Recently, I was in Dubai where we partnered with telecom companies and signed agreements with two banks whose customers will be able to use our services,” he said.
The startup is facilitating payments through Roshan Digital Accounts, a facility provided by the Pakistani central bank to overseas nationals to open bank accounts.
Shirazi said he was running his operations through a WhatsApp group before launching the mobile app.
“An overwhelming response from overseas Pakistanis compelled us to come up with our own product,” he said.
The app has so far served over 10,000 customers, mostly from the Middle East.
“Overseas Pakistanis, whose parents need any services come to us and we facilitate them through runners. They hire these runners through us,” the top InstaKin official said.
He maintained the launch of the app reduced the dependency of overseas Pakistanis on friends and relatives.
“Our users tell us they just log into the app and hire a rider,” he added. “They don’t need to call friends or relatives to run errands in their country.”
The startup aims to establish itself as a one-stop solution for users across the globe to reduce day-to-day complexities in the lives of about 250 million immigrants in a simple and instant manner.
“We want to be a one-stop shop for Pakistani immigrants in the Middle East such that if they need any services in Pakistan, they can visit the app and get things done,” Shirazi said.
Responding to a question about overseas funding, he said the Y Combinator, an American technology startup accelerator, was one of its major investors.
“Y Combinator is the world’s largest venture fund based out of Silicon Valley and we are actually one of the very few companies in Pakistan which got investment from it,” the InstaKin CEO said.
“We also have other investors mostly from the Silicon Valley,” he said without divulging the exact investment figure.
Startup connecting overseas Pakistanis to families at home plans new office in Dubai
https://arab.news/bab57
Startup connecting overseas Pakistanis to families at home plans new office in Dubai
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- InstaKin downloaded by Pakistanis in 86 countries who want to resolve family issues back home
- Majority of its users are Pakistani nationals residing in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
Ismail Gulgee, late Pakistani calligrapher and abstract artist, honored with dedicated museum
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- Amin Gulgee opens doors to museum showcasing father’s work at family home in Karachi
- Gulgee ‘demanded’ his residence by converted into a museum during his lifetime, a wish fulfilled by son this week
KARACHI: Renowned Pakistani artist Amin Gulgee said on Wednesday his parents had wished to convert their residence in the port city of Karachi into a museum, a desire he fulfilled this week by establishing the Gulgee Museum and opening its doors to the public to preserve his father’s artwork.
Ismail Gulgee, Amin’s father, was one of the most recognized figures in Pakistan’s art community, known for his calligraphic and abstract expressionist paintings. Originally trained as an engineer, he transitioned to art and gained fame for his portrait paintings before shifting toward abstract work influenced by Islamic visual heritage.
His dynamic, large-scale paintings often featured thick, textured strokes, drawing inspiration from Sufism and traditional Islamic artistic motifs. Exhibiting his work in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, he achieved international recognition during his lifetime.
Tragically, in December 2007, Gulgee and his wife were found murdered in their home in Karachi, an incident that shocked the country. His legacy, however, endures, with his works displayed in galleries, private collections and public spaces in Pakistan and beyond.
“My parents demanded that after their demise, their place should be turned into a museum,” his son, a recognized artist himself, told Arab News, saying he started working on “reimagining” the place two years ago.
The museum displays his father’s sketches, mosaics in lapis lazuli, paintings and sculptures.
“The collection comes from 1950 to 2007 with over 170 artworks,” he continued.
Amin is also the museum’s curator and has kept an archival collection of his father’s photographs, who witnessed the birth of Pakistan. The images feature Gulgee showing his work to President Charles de Gaulle of France in the 1960s and Benazir Bhutto in the 1990s, among others.
“I have divided the museum into 17 sections spread over 13 rooms on two floors, and I have written about each section,” he said. “Later, we are going to have a museum handbook that will come out. But for now, we have wall text in the museum, and we also have a QR code which translates all my English text into Urdu.”
Amin went about transforming his parents’ home in collaboration with architect Samina Anjarwalla, who said that they broke a lot of walls, as the space previously comprised bedrooms, dressing rooms and bathrooms.
“The structure was a big challenge for us,” she told Arab News, adding that the idea was to preserve the country’s heritage along with Gulgee’s work.
“We kept [the building] very simple, very plain [and] very modern so that the work speaks for itself,” she added.
Karachi does not have many art museums, making it challenging to preserve artworks in many cases.
“I think it is wonderful for the city of Karachi [to have Gulgee Museum],” Mehreen Ilahi, who runs an art gallery called Majmua, told Arab News.
“Initiatives like these, including the different ways of preserving art, are extremely important,” she continued. “Other than this, Karachi only has the National Museum and Mohatta Palace Museum. It was very important that this became a museum because Gulgee is no longer alive, and his work must be preserved.”
Asked about his future plans, Amin said there was a lot more to come.
“The next project of the museum is the Gulgee Museum Handbook, which is a 320-page book with 13 academic essays written on Ismail Gulgee,” he said. “We are about 80 percent done, and as soon as this opening is over, I go back to the project of the book.”
Pakistan finmin assures facilitating foreign investors in meeting with Saudi Wafi Energy officials
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- Wafi Energy made huge investments in Pakistan last year when it became Shell Pakistan’s majority shareholder
- Saudi delegation informs Pakistan finmin about plans to expand investments in Pakistan, says Finance Division
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb this week met senior officials of Saudi Arabia’s Wafi Energy Pakistan and Asyad Holdings group, promising to facilitate foreign investors via fostering a business-friendly environment in the country, the Finance Division said.
Wafi Energy, an affiliate of the Asyad Group, made huge investments in Pakistan when it became the majority shareholder of Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) in November last year. The Saudi group now holds approximately 87.78 percent of the total issued share capital of SPL.
Aurangzeb met Ghassan Al Amoudi, CEO of Asyad Holdings and Wafi Energy Pakistan Limited Chairman Zubair Shaikh on Thursday. He welcomed the delegation and appreciated both groups’ contributions to Pakistan’s energy and investment sectors, the Finance Division said.
“He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to facilitating foreign investors and ensuring a business-friendly environment,” the statement said on Thursday.
Aurangzeb spoke to the delegation about his recent visit to Saudi Arabia for the AlUla Conference 2025, commending Saudi Arabia’s strides in economic diversification and infrastructure development.
The Saudi delegation informed the minister about their plans to expand their investments in Pakistan, emphasizing that the South Asian country already hosts their largest investments, the Finance Division said.
“They expressed confidence in Pakistan’s economic potential and shared their vision for further collaboration in the downstream petroleum sector and energy infrastructure,” the statement said.
The delegation noted that investor and consumer confidence in Pakistan is returning, the Finance Division said.
“The finance minister reiterated the government’s full support for foreign investors and its dedication to policies that foster investment, innovation, and sustainable economic progress,” the statement said.
Pakistan has proactively tried to woo foreign investors and countries into investing in the country’s energy, infrastructure, real estate, agriculture, livestock and other priority sectors ever since it came close to defaulting on its international payments in 2023.
Pakistan formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in June 2023 to attract international investment in its priority sectors, particularly from Gulf countries.
The SIFC is a hybrid civil-military body that aims to fast-track decisions related to international investment. Since its formation, Pakistan has signed several agreements in trade and investment with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Azerbaijan, Turkiye, China and other countries worth billions of dollars.
PM Sharif calls for effective strategy to increase Pakistan exports to $60 billion in 5 years
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- Shehbaz Sharif chairs high-level meeting to review measures to enhance Pakistan’s exports
- Calls for reduction in tariffs, special attention to be paid to IT, services and agriculture sectors
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed his economic team to devise an effective strategy to enhance Pakistan’s exports to $60 billion in five years, a statement from his office said as Islamabad looks for ways to tackle its macroeconomic crisis.
Pakistan’s government in December 2024 launched a five-year national plan to escape a prolonged economic crisis that has drained the country of its financial resources and brought it to the brink of a sovereign default in 2023.
The five-year National Economic Plan seeks to ensure sustainable development that hinges mainly on export-oriented growth.
Sharif chaired a meeting of his economic team in Pakistan’s capital on Thursday to review measures to increase the country’s exports, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
“The prime minister gave directives to formulate a comprehensive and effective strategy to take the country’s exports to $60 billion in the next five years,” his office said.
It said Sharif called for sustainable reforms in Pakistan’s tariff system to ensure its exports become competitive in the international market.
He called on the government to pay special attention to the services, IT and agriculture sectors to increase exports.
Sharif was briefed by his team about the ongoing reforms within Pakistan’s commerce ministry and the strategies in place to enhance exports to 60 billion dollars in the next five years, his office said.
Sharif was also told that the commerce ministry hosts international exhibitions in Pakistan annually to promote exports.
Pakistan’s deputy PM says will attend OIC meeting on Gaza in Jeddah on Mar. 7
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- OIC meeting to take place in wake of US President Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza to other countries
- Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other countries have rejected Trump’s plan, called for Palestinians’ right to self-determination
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday he would represent Pakistan at the upcoming Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Jeddah on Mar. 7, where the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the Palestinian cause will be discussed.
The OIC meeting will reportedly take place next month amid backlash and uproar from Arab and OIC countries over US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to redevelop Gaza into an international beach resort, after resettling Palestinian inhabitants. The US president called on Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians, with the remarks drawing sharp reactions from both countries as well as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and others.
Dar, who was in New York on a three-day visit to the US to attend a United Nations conference on multilateralism this week, told reporters he had discussed Trump’s proposal with the foreign ministers of Iran, Egypt, Malaysia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye recently.
“He said reportedly Arab leaders were scheduled to meet on the situation on Feb. 27 and Gulf leaders on Mar. 5 ,which would follow the extraordinary CFM meeting on Mar. 7 in Jeddah in which he would represent Pakistan,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
Dar pointed out that Pakistan had also issued a strong statement on proposals to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, saying that they had all the right to their land.
Dar, who also serves as Pakistan’s foreign minister, said despite limited resources Pakistan sent several consignments of relief goods to Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. He said Pakistan also hosted around 200 Palestinian medical students, allowing them to complete their medical education in Pakistani medical colleges.
Israel’s war on Gaza, which began after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and displaced almost all of Gaza’s 2 million population by laying waste to swathes of neighborhoods, schools and hospitals. A six-week uneasy truce announced on Jan. 19 between Hamas and Israel ended 15 months of war.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
The South Asian country regularly sent relief supplies for the people of Gaza during Israel’s 15-month war.
Pakistan fined for slow over-rate in New Zealand defeat
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- ICC referees panel says skipper Mohammad Rizwan pleads guilty to offense
- Pakistan lost to New Zealand by 60 runs in Champions Trophy 2025 opener
DUBAI: The International Cricket Council on Thursday fined Pakistan five percent of their players’ match fee for a slow over-rate in the Champions Trophy defeat to New Zealand in Karachi.
New Zealand smashed 320-5 in their 50 overs with Pakistan bowled out for 260 in 47. 5 overs, losing by 60 runs on Wednesday.
“Pakistan have been fined five percent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against New Zealand,” said an ICC statement.
Andy Pycroft of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Mohammad Rizwan’s side was ruled to be one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
Rizwan pleaded guilty to the offense and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing, the ICC said.
“On-field umpires Richard Kettleborough and Sharfuddoula, third umpire Joel Wilson and fourth umpire Alex Wharf levelled the charge,” the ICC added.
Pakistan now face arch rivals India in Dubai in a must win game on Sunday to keep their semifinal hopes alive from Group A.
Bangladesh are the other team in the group while Australia, England, South Africa and Afghanistan are in Group B.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals.
The Champions Trophy runs until March 9 in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.