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Pakistan says will withdraw tax exemptions for industries in former tribal regions

Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb speaks during an interview with AFP at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, DC on April 15, 2024. (AFP/File)
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Updated 16 May 2024
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Pakistan says will withdraw tax exemptions for industries in former tribal regions

  • Tax exemptions, duty concessions approved in 2018 for FATA and PATA set to expire on June 30
  • Finance Minister Aurangzeb says business communities across country want equitable conditions
Updated 16 May 2024
KHURSHID AHMED   

KARACHI: Pakistan’s government will not extend the preferential tax treatment for the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA), Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Thursday, saying that business communities across the country were demanding equitable conditions for industries nationwide. 

Pakistan approved tax exemptions for erstwhile FATA, tribal areas in northwestern Pakistan which were merged with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, in 2018. The exemptions were also extended to PATA, regions within KP which are administered by the provincial government due to their historical and cultural significance. 

The exemptions were extended till January 2023 but were granted another extension for one year. They are now set to expire on June 30, 2024. 

KP lawmakers this week demanded the government extend the incentives for the regions, saying that many princely states in northwestern Pakistan decided to join the country after independence when they were promised tax exemptions. 

“These exemptions are set to expire on June 30 this year by operation of law,” Aurangzeb said during a session of the National Assembly. He was responding to a call attention notice on the withdrawal of tax exemptions and concessions in former FATA and PATA areas. 

He clarified that the government is not “proposing any new legislation” to extend the tax exemptions. 

“The exemptions at that time were given for sales and income tax to integrate these areas into the mainstream economy,” the finance minister explained. He added that business communities, throughout their interactions with the government, were demanding equitable conditions for industries across the country. 

The exemptions were granted to industrial units of iron/steel, plastics, ghee, textile and other sectors and industries located in former FATA and PATA areas. 

Aurangzeb said business delegations from across Pakistan were seeking tax exemptions in line with those offered to ex-FATA and PATA. 

“Since the past few days various chambers have been coming in including steel, fabric, tinplate, oil, tea, and ghee,” Aurangzeb said. “They all are consistently asking about preferential tax treatment.”

Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser last week urged the federal government to extend the exemptions till 2028. He had argued that the withdrawal of tax exemptions would adversely impact industrial growth and employment in the areas. 

Some areas of northwestern Pakistan, including Malakand division, have been observing shutter-down strike for the past few days against the government’s decision to bring PATA under the tax net. 
 

Topics: Pakistan

Pakistan voices ‘deep regret’ as US vetoes UN Security Council resolution on Gaza ceasefire

Updated 9 sec ago
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Pakistan voices ‘deep regret’ as US vetoes UN Security Council resolution on Gaza ceasefire

  • 15-member UN council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members 
  • Only US voted against, using its veto as permanent council member to block resolution
Updated 9 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday expressed “deep regret” over the United States vetoing a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, which has drawn criticism of the Biden administration for once again blocking international action aimed at halting Israel’s war in the besieged enclave. 

The 15-member council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members that called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the 13-month conflict and separately demanded the release of hostages. Only the US voted against it, using its veto as a permanent council member to block the resolution.

“We deeply regret that even now a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire has been vetoed by the sole negative vote of a permanent member of the Council,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Munir Akram, told the state APP news agency. 

Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, said Washington had made clear it would only support a resolution that explicitly called for the immediate release of hostages as part of a ceasefire.

“A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked. This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the United States could not support it,” he said.

Wood said the US had sought compromise, but the text of the proposed resolution would have sent a “dangerous message” to Hamas that “there’s no need to come back to the negotiating table.”

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,000 people and displaced nearly all of the enclave’s population at least once. It was launched in response to an attack by Hamas fighters who killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

With inputs from Reuters

Topics: Pakistan UN US Gaza ceasefire Arab News Pakistan

Gulf countries have identified $19 billion investment portfolio for Pakistan — planning minister

Updated 13 min 3 sec ago
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Gulf countries have identified $19 billion investment portfolio for Pakistan — planning minister

  • Pakistan has been pushing for foreign investment in recent months in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy
  • Rollovers, loans from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China have helped Pakistan meet external financing needs in the past
Updated 13 min 3 sec ago
Fatimah Amjad

ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Thursday Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, among others, had identified a $19 billion investment portfolio for Pakistan, while China was now entering phase two of a multi-billion-dollar economic corridor project. 

Pakistan has been pushing for foreign investment in recent months in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy as it navigates a tough reforms agenda mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The world, which was viewing Pakistan as a failed economy, is once more looking at Pakistan with hope,” Iqbal said as he addressed a ceremony in Islamabad. 

“China is extending its hand in the form of phase two of CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor]. Our friendly nations, Gulf countries, which include Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Azerbaijan, they have together identified a $19 billion portfolio under which they can invest in Pakistan. So, all these opportunities are once again knocking at our door.”

Rollovers or disbursements on loans from Pakistan’s long-time allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China, in addition to financing from the IMF, have helped Pakistan meet its external financing needs in the past.

Last month, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed investment agreements worth $2.8 billion while Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pledged to expedite a $5 billion investment portfolio for Islamabad.

The UAE committed this May it would invest $10 billion in promising economic sectors. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also said this week Azerbaijan had pledged to invest $3 billion in multiple sectors of Pakistan’s economy. 

Pakistan and the IMF signed a $7 billion loan program in September. 

Pakistan’s economy has struggled for decades with boom-and-bust cycles, needing 23 IMF bailouts since 1958.

Topics: Pakistan Saudi investment in Pakistan

Two new species of cobia fish found off Gwadar coast in northern Arabian Sea

Updated 35 min 50 sec ago
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Two new species of cobia fish found off Gwadar coast in northern Arabian Sea

  • New study published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Zoologischer Anzeiger
  • Research team found species during study of commercially popular black king cobia 
Updated 35 min 50 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Two newly identified species of the cobia fish have been found off Pakistan’s Gwadar coast in the northern Arabian Sea, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Zoologischer Anzeiger, whose latest edition came out this month.

The cobia is a species of marine carangiform ray-finned fish, whose other common names include black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfish, crabeater, prodigal son, codfish, and black bonito.

“This study describes two newly identified species, Rachycentron blochii sp. nov. and Rachycentron makranesis sp. nov. from Gwadar in the northern Arabian Sea,” said the study, authored by Dr. Sher Khan Panhwar and Dr. Imtiaz Kashani, professors at the Center of Excellence in Marine Biology at the University of Karachi.

“The newly discovered species differ significantly from their relatives in multiple morphological traits, such as head profile, mouth, pectoral fin, caudal fin, caudal peduncle, dorsal and anal fin bases, gill rakers, and body coloration.”

The recent finding increases the number of cobia species in the northern Arabian Sea, Pakistan, the study says, presenting information on the species’ biological and ecological aspects such as feeding habits, age assessment, habitat preferences and fishery-related details.

The research was financially supported by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan through its National Research Programme for Universities project.

“At first glance, I thought it was another black king cobia but when I looked closer at the markings on its body, I knew it was different,” Dr. Panhwar told Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, explaining that he was traveling with students on a routine survey of the Gwadar fish harbor last year when he spotted the new species. The team was there to study the black king cobia or Rachycentron canadum, a commercially popular large fish found around the world.

Fresh specimens weighing between 4 and 7 kg were immediately cooled in dry-ice and packed into ice boxes for transportation to the fisheries laboratory at the University of Karachi, some 650km away from the Gwadar harbor.

Back at the laboratory, Dr. Pan­hwar and his colleague Dr. Kashani analyzed the unusual cobias, examining their appearance, dissecting them, and comparing them with the typical species. 

The two new species have been named the Blotchy Cobia, a nod to the large gray markings found on its body as well as to the Balochi language spoken in the region. The other one will be called Makran Cobia, named after the Makran coast where it was found.

“At this time, these species of cobia have only been spotted in Pakistan,” Panhwar told Dawn.

Topics: Gwadar coast Arabian Sea Pakistan Cobia

After bail in state gifts case, new charges filed against Pakistan’s Imran Khan

Updated 21 November 2024
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After bail in state gifts case, new charges filed against Pakistan’s Imran Khan

  • Khan has been named in case relating to alleged violence by his supporters during a rally in September 
  • Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, says all cases against him are politically motivated 
Updated 21 November 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: Rawalpindi police said on Thursday they had filed fresh charges against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan related to violence at a party rally in September, a day after a court granted the ex-premier bail in a case involving the illegal sale of gifts from a state repository. 

On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court granted Khan bail in the new Toshakhana case, filed in July and involving a jewelry set worth over €380,000 gifted to the former first lady by a foreign dignitary when Khan was prime minister from 2018-2022. The couple is accused of undervaluing the gift and buying it at a lesser price from the state repository.

Before the new case was filed, Khan, who has been in jail since last August, was convicted in four cases. Two of the cases have since been suspended, including an original one relating to state gifts, while he was acquitted in the remaining two.

“A case has been registered for arson, stone pelting, resisting the police, damage to government property and other incidents,” Rawalpindi Police announced on X, reading the charges against Khan in connection to a protest held by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in September. 

“Investigation team headed by SSP Investigation is investigating Imran Khan. Khan will be produced in court to obtain physical remand.”

Charges have also been filed in the case against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and a number of PTI leaders, including Seemabia Tahir, Amir Mughar and Aliya Hamza.

The police report of the case, which was filed on Sept. 28, the day of the rally, lists terrorism, attempted murder, vandalism, destruction of public and state property, and interference in government operations as the main charges. It says participants of the PTI rally created unrest, obstructed public access by burning tires and caused difficulties for citizens.

It also charges PTI leaders and supporters of raising anti-government slogans, hurling stones at the police and attacking them with iron rods during the protest.

Several police vehicles were damaged by PTI rallygoers and one police officer was injured, the report says.

Khan was in prison when the Sept. 28 rally took place. The former premier denies any wrongdoing, and alleges all the cases registered against him since he was removed from power in 2022 are politically motivated to keep him in jail.

Topics: Imran Khan PTI state gifts case Arab News Pakistan

Pakistani PM thanks King Salman, Gates foundations for global anti-polio efforts

Updated 21 November 2024
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Pakistani PM thanks King Salman, Gates foundations for global anti-polio efforts

  • Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains last polio-endemic country in the world
  • This year, 50 cases have been reported in Pakistan so far, a majority in Balochistan province 
Updated 21 November 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met a delegation of the Polio Oversight Board in Islamabad and thanked the King Salman and Bill & Melinda Gates foundations, among others, in their global efforts for polio eradication.

Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that has prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.

Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.

“The Prime Minister thanked the King Salman Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary Foundation, UNICEF and CDC, which are partners with the Government of Pakistan in the polio eradication campaign,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after the meeting. 

“The role of all these organizations reflects the global efforts in the polio eradication campaign.”

This year, 50 cases have been reported in Pakistan: 24 from Balochistan province, 13 from Sindh, 10 from KP and one each from Punjab and Islamabad. 

In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021. 

Pakistan’s polio eradication program began in 1994, and the number of cases has declined dramatically since then. But efforts to eradicate the virus have for years been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams. 

In July 2019, a vaccination drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thwarted after mass panic was created by rumors that children were fainting or vomiting after being immunized.

Public health studies in Pakistan have shown that maternal illiteracy and low parental knowledge about vaccines, together with poverty and rural residency, are also factors that commonly influence whether parents vaccinate their children against polio.

Pakistan’s chief health officer this month said an estimated 500,000 children had missed polio vaccinations during a recent countrywide inoculation drive due to vaccine refusals. 

Topics: King Salman Gates foundations anti-polio program

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