ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed multiple agreements worth more than $3 billion for cooperation in railways, economic zones and infrastructure, a Pakistani official said on Thursday.
The development comes amid Pakistan Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar’s visit to Davos, Switzerland to attend 54th summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The agreements cover the development of a dedicated freight corridor, multi-modal logistics park, and freight terminals, according to a statement shared on X by Syed Mazhar Ali Shah, the Pakistan Railways secretary.
DP World, a Dubai-based Emirati multinational logistics company, will carry out infrastructure improvement at Qasim International Container Terminal, Pakistan’s leading trade gateway, as part of the project. The Emirati firm also plans to develop an economic zone near the terminal.
The agreements were signed by Pakistani Communication, Railways and Maritime Affairs Minister Shahid Ashraf Tarar and H.E Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chairman of ports, customs and free zone corporation (PCFC) of the Dubai government.
“DP World has long standing proud presence in Pakistan witnessed by mutually rewarding engagement. Building on the unwavering trust and partnership, the two brotherly countries have decided to further consolidate the economic cooperation through landmark projects,” Tarar said at the signing ceremony in Davos.
“The signing of Investment Framework Agreements highlights the importance of Pakistan as gateway to Asia and commercial dividends associated with its strategic location.”
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, who is also the CEO of DP World, said Pakistan was a growing market and they were proud of contributing to its trading ability.
“Pakistan is a growing market, and an important trade corridor to Central Asia. We are proud to have contributed to its trading ability through our operations at Qasim International Container Terminal and are honored to work with various Pakistani government organizations to develop new freight systems and with Port Qasim Authority to enhance port connectivity and investment,” he said.
“These will help serve Pakistan’s growing population, forecast to approach 300 million in the coming decade, and integrate it further into the wider region.”
For the development of the projects, DP World will act on behalf of the Dubai government, while Pakistan Railways and Port Qasim Authority will act on behalf of the Pakistan government.
The rail-based dedicated freight corridor is planned to run from Karachi Port on the Arabian Sea to the Pipri Marshalling Yard, approximately 50 km away. This will decongest the Pakistani port city of Karachi beside improving road safety. It will significantly improve efficiency, transport times and reduce the overall cost of logistics, according to Shah.
The two other inter-governmental framework agreements aim to strengthen bilateral relations in marine and logistics sectors.
Shah said a framework agreement was also signed with Pakistan’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs to dredge a navigation channel.
“This framework agreement will also see the development of an economic zone at Port Qasim, which aims to attract more than US $3 billion of foreign direct investment,” he said, adding that it aimed to maximize economic activity in Pakistan.
At Davos, Pakistan, UAE ink more than $3 billion investment pacts for cooperation in multiple sectors
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At Davos, Pakistan, UAE ink more than $3 billion investment pacts for cooperation in multiple sectors
- The agreements cover development of a dedicated freight corridor, multi-modal logistics park, and freight terminals
- The investment pacts highlight Pakistan’s importance as gateway to Asia, commercial dividends of its location, minister says
Pakistan’s FIA says key facilitator of Morocco boat tragedy arrested
- Several Pakistanis were on board migrant ship that sank off Morocco’s coast this month
- FIA says suspect Abdul Ghaffar involved in human smuggling in Mauritania, Burkina Faso
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) this week announced it had arrested a human smuggler who was the main facilitator of the Morocco boat tragedy in which several Pakistanis were killed this month.
Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed earlier this month that a migrant boat with several Pakistanis had capsized near the coast of Morocco en route to Spain. According to Moroccan authorities, 36 people were rescued from the vessel, which had departed Mauritania on Jan. 2. The boat had 86 migrants on board, including 66 Pakistanis, minority rights group Walking Borders said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had instructed the government to take stern action against human smugglers involved in sending desperate Pakistani citizens on dangerous journeys to Europe via sea.
“The main facilitator of the Morocco boat accident, Abdul Ghaffar, was arrested at Islamabad Airport yesterday,” a statement from the FIA said on Saturday, adding that it has traced the gang of human smugglers involved in the incident.
The investigation agency said Ghaffar had been living in Mauritania since 2023 and had facilitated sending several Pakistanis to Europe. It said the accused’s father, Muhammad Sarfraz and close relative Munir Ahmed are also involved in human trafficking in Mauritania since 2018.
FIA said it had nabbed Ghaffar when he arrived in Islamabad on Friday with seven passengers. After being identified by the passengers, he was taken into custody and shifted to Faisalabad.
“Important evidence was recovered from Adul Ghaffar, the agent involved in human trafficking,” the FIA said.
The agency said it has evidence Ghaffar was in contact with an African human smuggler named Abu Bakar. It said upon initial investigation the FIA found out that Ghaffar and his accomplices were actively involved in human smuggling in the African countries of Mauritania and Burkina Faso.
“The suspects helped Pakistanis onto boats by luring them with promises of sending them to Europe, which resulted in the deaths of several Pakistanis,” the agency said.
The FIA said a case has been registered against Ghaffar and further investigations are underway. The agency said it expected more arrests after extracting information from the suspect.
“Strict legal action will be taken against smugglers who play with innocent lives,” the FIA vowed.
The Morocco boat tragedy highlighted the perilous journeys many migrants, particularly Pakistanis, undertake due to conflict and economic instability in their home country.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos.
It was among the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pakistan anti-graft body files reference against property tycoon over illegal transfer of Karachi land
- Malik Riaz Hussain and others are accused of having over 7,000 acres of government land transferred illegally to Bahria Town Karachi
- The development comes days after National Accountability Bureau said it had initiated process to seek Hussain’s extradition from UAE
KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed a reference against real estate tycoon, Malik Riaz Hussain, and 32 other individuals over illegal transfer of government lands for a mega project in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a NAB spokesperson said on Saturday.
Hussain, who currently lives in Dubai, is one of Pakistan’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen and the country’s largest private employers. He is best known as the chairman of M/s Bahria Town, which claims to be Asia’s largest private real estate developer and has projects in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and other cities.
NAB filed the reference in an accountability court in Karachi nominating Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Sharjeel Inaam Memon, then local body minister and now information minister of Sindh, among 33 people for illegally transferring government land to M/s Bahria Town for its Bahria Town Karachi project in 2013 and 2014.
“Accused persons in connivance with each other illegally transferred the government land, initialy admeasuring 7220 acres, to M/s Bahria Town,” the anti-graft body said in the reference. “The said illegal transfer of government land to Bahria Town was made under the garb of adjustment/exchange/consolidation.”
It said the accused persons acted as an “organized syndicate” to cause cumulative losses of Rs700 billion ($2.5 billion) to the national exchequer, requesting the court to try them for committing the “offenses of corruption and corrupt practices.”
The development came days after NAB said it had initiated the process to seek Hussain’s extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who was also charged in another land corruption case involving former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife.
A Pakistani court last month sentenced Khan to 14 years in prison and his wife, Bushra, to seven years, in the case in which they are accused of receiving land as a bribe from Hussain through the Al-Qadir charitable trust in exchange for illegal favors during Khan’s premiership from 2018 to 2022. Khan says he and his wife were trustees and did not benefit from the land transaction. Hussain too denies any wrongdoing relating to the case.
“We have written to the Federal Investigation Agency for the extradition,” a NAB spokesman told Arab News on Wednesday, adding that the FIA would now pursue the case.
Prior to that, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that Pakistan would use its extradition treaty with the UAE to bring Hussain back.
Last month, NAB also cautioned people against investing in Hussain’s new real estate venture to build luxury apartments in Dubai.
“If the general public at large invests in the stated project, their actions would be tantamount to money laundering, for which they may face criminal and legal proceedings,” it said.
Hussain responded to NAB in a post on X, saying that “fake cases, blackmailing and greed of officers” had forced him to relocate from Pakistan because he was not willing to be a “political pawn.”
Pakistani PM hopes Sharaa assuming president’s office will bring peace to Syria
- Al-Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar Assad
- Sharaa said he will form an inclusive transitional government that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday welcomed Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s assumption of the office of the Syrian president, hoping it would lead to peace in Syria.
Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar Assad.
He was also empowered to form a temporary legislative council for a transitional period and the Syrian constitution was suspended.
“We welcome Mr. Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s assumption of office as President of the Syrian Arab Republic during the transitional phase and hope that the new leadership will be able to bring peace, progress and prosperity to the brotherly people of Syria,” Sharif said on X.
On Thursday, Sharaa said he will form an inclusive transitional government representing diverse communities that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections.
He was addressing the nation in his first speech since being appointed president by the military command that ousted Assad in a lightning offensive last year.
The group that led the offensive, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, has since set up an interim government that has welcomed a steady stream of senior Western and Arab diplomatic delegations keen to help stabilize the country after 13 years of civil war.
Pakistan army chief vows retaliation after militant attack kills 18 troops in Balochistan
- Pakistani forces suffered casualties when they engaged militants who had erected barricades on a key highway in Kalat district late Friday
- Balochistan has for years been the scene of an insurgency, with several separatist groups staging attacks and targeting mainly security forces
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, on Saturday visited the southwestern Balochistan province after militants killed 18 Pakistani soldiers in the restive region, promising to hunt down the perpetrators of attacks on Pakistani security forces.
General Munir was given a comprehensive brief on the prevailing security situation in Balochistan during his visit, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
He offered funeral prayers for the deceased soldiers and later inquired after the injured ones at the Combined Military Hospital in Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta.
“Those who are acting as terrorist proxies of their foreign masters who have mastered the art of manifesting double standards of hunting with the hound and running with the hare are well known to us. No matter what these so called ‘frenemies’ may do, you will surely be defeated by the resilience of our proud nation and its Armed Forces,” the army chief was quoted as saying by the ISPR.
“For the defense of our motherland and its people, we will definitely retaliate and ‘hunt you down,’ whenever required and wherever you may be.”
Pakistani forces suffered the casualties when they engaged militants who had erected barricades on a key highway in Balochistan’s Kalat district late on Friday night. The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of the most prominent separatist groups operating in the southwestern province, claimed responsibility for the incident.
The fighting continued overnight into Saturday morning and the military said it had killed at least 23 militants in subsequent clearance operations.
Balochistan has for years been the scene of an insurgency, with several separatist groups staging attacks and targeting mainly security forces in their quest for independence. The separatists accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources. Successive Pakistani governments deny the allegations and say they have prioritized Balochistan’s development through investments in health, education and infrastructure projects.
In the past, the BLA has carried out major attacks in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan, targeting security forces, ethnic Punjabis whom it considers “outsiders” in Balochistan, and Chinese interests and nationals.
More than 50 people, including security forces, were killed in August last year in a string of assaults in Balochistan that were claimed by the BLA. Last month, dozens of fighters of the separatist outfit wrested control of a small town in Khuzdar from the Levies paramilitary forces. Pakistani authorities had regained the town after hours of efforts.
Pakistan, Azerbaijan aim to strengthen partnership in infrastructure, energy and trade
- The development comes as Islamabad seeks closer ties, especially in trade and investment, with Central Asian states to overcome an economic crisis
- In July last year, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev visited Pakistan and announced the two nations were working to increase bilateral trade to $2 billion
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Azerbaijan have resolved to strengthen their partnership in infrastructure, energy and trade sectors, the Pakistani government said on Saturday, following high-level meetings between officials of the two countries in Baku.
Pakistan’s Minister of Investment, Privatization and Communications Abdul Aleem Khan met with Azerbaijan Prime Minister Ali Asadov and discussed with him avenues for enhancing bilateral cooperation, according to the Press Information Department (PID) of the Pakistani government.
The discussions focused on expanding economic collaboration, with Khan highlighting vast investment opportunities in Pakistan, particularly in privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). He also invited Azerbaijan to invest in Pakistan’s motorway and other key sectors.
During the visit, the Pakistani delegation engaged in discussions with Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev, Deputy Minister of Economy Samad Bashiri and President of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Rovshan Najaf.
“The meetings explored opportunities for mutual investment in various sectors, including infrastructure development, energy, and trade,” the PID said in a statement. “Additionally, discussions covered the privatization of government-run enterprises and other key investment initiatives.”
The meetings were also attended by Lt. Gen. Sarfaraz Ahmed, coordinator of Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), Federal Secretary Petroleum Momin Ali Agha and other senior officials.
Welcoming the Pakistani delegation, PM Asadov praised Pakistan’s recent economic advancements and assured Azerbaijan’s support in increasing bilateral trade and investment.
The development comes amid Islamabad’s efforts to forge closer ties, especially in trade and investment, with Central Asian states as Pakistan treads a tricky path to economic recovery. There have been a series of visits by Azerbaijani officials to Pakistan in recent months, with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev visiting Pakistan in July 2024 and announcing the two nations were working to increase bilateral trade to $2 billion.
“The visit also included a review of progress on various Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between Pakistan and Azerbaijan. Special discussions were held on developing trade corridors, rail networks, and other communication links between Pakistan and Central Asian states to enhance regional connectivity,” the PID said.
“This visit marks another step toward deepening economic and strategic ties between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, paving the way for expanded cooperation in trade, investment, and infrastructure development.”
Last month, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Islamabad and Baku were in the process of finalizing an agreement to enhance security ties through cooperation in arms trade, defense infrastructure and intelligence sharing.
In Dec. 2024, Pakistan waived customs and regulatory duties on imports from Azerbaijan under the Pakistan-Azerbaijan Preferential Trade Agreement. The agreement aimed to boost economic cooperation by reducing tariffs on goods like Pakistan’s sports equipment, leather, and pharmaceuticals and Azerbaijan’s oil and gas products.
