ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has called for timely policy measures to address the country’s key economic, energy and industrial needs, state-run media reported this week, as Islamabad attempts to steer the nation toward sustainable economic growth. 
The finance minister was chairing a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the cabinet’s top economic body, which was attended by senior ministers, officials and federal secretaries of various government departments, when he stressed on need for policy measures. 
Pakistan has sought to ward off a prolonged economic crisis by attracting foreign investment in its vital sectors and undertaking long-term financial reforms concerning loss-making state-owned enterprises, energy and tax sectors. 
“Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday emphasized the importance of timely policy measures to address critical economic, energy and industrial needs, with a focus on transparency and efficiency in implementation,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Monday. 
The ECC reviewed and approved a technical grant of Rs1.945 billion [$7.002 million] for the Ministry of Defense and Rs5.276 million [$18,993.60] for the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), to support the commission’s efforts in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in Pakistan.
The ECC also considered and approved a proposal from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for a technical supplementary grant of Rs 2,462.302 million [$8,864,287.2] to facilitate the execution of 15 projects under the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for fiscal year 2024-25, the APP said.
Pakistan has registered some economic gains in the past few months, with inflation slowing to 4.1 percent in December 2024 and its stock market experiencing a bullish trend for the past couple of weeks. It has signed investment agreements from foreign countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Central Asian states to ensure sustainable economic growth. 
In October 2024, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) valued at $2.8 billion. In December, Sharif’s office confirmed that seven of the 34 MoUs had been converted into agreements worth $560 million.
Pakistan has also attempted to privatize its state-owned enterprises which have accumulated losses in the billions, including its national flag bearer, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). It failed in its attempt last year to sell the airline, attracting just one bid of Rs10 billion ($36 million) for a 60 percent stake.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information secretary and Bangladesh’s high commissioner discussed ways to boost media cooperation and people-to-people contacts with each other, state-run media reported this week, as both countries bolster efforts to improve their relations strained by a bitter past.
Established together as one independent nation in 1947, Bangladesh won liberation from then-West Pakistan in 1971. Relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate during former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s previous administrations, which prosecuted several members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party for war crimes relating to the 1971 conflict.
However, Islamabad’s ties with Dhaka improved after Hasina was ousted last year after student-led violent protests in the country. Dhaka’s ties with New Delhi have been strained in recent months as the new administration in Bangladesh repeatedly demands India extradite the ousted prime minister.
“Secretary Information and Broadcasting Ambreen Jan and Bangladesh’s High Commissioner in Pakistan Iqbal Hussain Khan met here Monday and discussed ways to boost media cooperation and people-to-people contacts between their countries,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said on Monday.
The two sides focused on enhancing partnerships to highlight their shared historical narratives and cultural values that strengthen mutual understanding, the state media said. 
Jan said Pakistan and Bangladesh had longstanding diplomatic and cultural ties with a shared history of cooperation in diverse sectors.
“She emphasized collaboration between state media organizations including Pakistan Television Corporation, Associated Press of Pakistan and Radio Pakistan with their Bangladeshi counterparts in fields of joint productions and exchange of news,” the APP said.
The Pakistani official highlighted that a journalist exchange program could provide media persons from Pakistan and Bangladesh an opportunity to learn about each other’s perspectives and narratives on various matters.
“High Commissioner Iqbal Hussain Khan lauded the government of Pakistan for taking steps to encourage multifarious cooperation between the two countries,” the APP reported. “He likened the people of two countries as brothers and added that their connectivity through joint cooperation programs would bring both nations further closer.”
The two sides also discussed expanding the availability of Pakistani news and entertainment channels on Bangladeshi cable networks and organizing film festivals and photographic exhibitions, the state media added.
Pakistan’s moves to forge stronger ties with Bangladesh include Islamabad’s initiative to launch a fully funded scholarship program for 300 Bangladeshi students in December 2024. The scholarship program is backed by Pakistan’s education ministry and supported by leading universities such as NUST, Comsats, and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).