ISLAMABAD: A high-level committee tasked with finding ways to rationalize the government structure and expenses suggested a contributory pension system for public sector employees while presenting its preliminary report to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at a meeting focusing on the two objectives in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The development took place right ahead of the federal budget, scheduled to be presented by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in the National Assembly later today.
Pakistan faces large, persistent fiscal deficits that contribute to macroeconomic instability and crowd out public and private investment.
The issue has also become significant in the context of the government’s efforts to secure another International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout since a reduction in the government’s expenses can help reallocate funds to address more pressing economic issues.
“The initial report offered short-term and mid-term recommendations,” said a statement circulated by the PM Office after the meeting. “The committee recommended shutting down some public institutions, merging several, and transferring some to the provinces.”
“All vacant positions which have been unfilled for more than a year should be eliminated to save national funds,” the statement continued. “The committee also recommended introducing a contributory pension system for newly recruited government employees.”
The report also suggested the government impose restrictions on unnecessary official travel and promote teleconferencing.
Subsequently, the prime minister constituted a high-powered committee, asking its members to present a comprehensive action plan within 10 weeks.
He said the committee should utilize the best international practices to provide solid recommendations.
Sharif also expressed hope the committee’s recommendations would save the nation billions of rupees.
The committee that worked on the preliminary report was headed by the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and had experts like Dr. Qaiser Bengali, Dr. Farukh Saleem and Muhammad Naveed Iftikhar.
Pakistan mulls contributory pension system to curtail expenditure amid IMF loan talks
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Pakistan mulls contributory pension system to curtail expenditure amid IMF loan talks
- A high-level committee presents its report to PM Sharif, recommending closure of some public institutions
- The committee says all vacant positions that have been unfilled for more than a year should be eliminated
Pakistan’s free kidney hospital acquires four-star hotel in Karachi to expand services
- Trustee Shabbar Zaidi says SIUT will add 1,000 beds for patients after the acquisition of Regent Plaza hotel
- The building, a landmark located on the city’s main thoroughfare, will provide easy access to patients, he adds
KARACHI: The Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation (SIUT) has acquired Regent Plaza, a four-star hotel in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, to convert it into a health care facility to expand its free-of-cost services for patients, an SIUT trustee said on Sunday.
Founded by philanthropist and distinguished surgeon Dr. Syed Adibul Hasan Rizvi, SIUT stands as Pakistan’s foremost center for treatment of kidney-related diseases, providing free services such as dialysis and transplantation to patients who come from across the country.
Originally established as the urology department of Karachi’s Civil Hospital in 1970, SIUT attained autonomous status in 1991. The institute presently conducts up to 12 transplants weekly and achieved a milestone in 2003 by performing Pakistan’s inaugural liver transplant.
The Regent Plaza hotel occupies a prime location on the city’s main thoroughfare, Shahrah-e-Faisal, spanning an area of 13,200 square yards with a total covered area of 47,034 square yards. Last October, the hotel management informed investors of SIUT’s Rs14.5 billion offer to purchase it and on Saturday, the hotel’s face board was replaced with that of SUIT’s.
“With this new facility, we will add 1,000 beds to SIUT and this branch will offer all services,” Syed Shabbar Zaidi, an SIUT trustee, told Arab News on Sunday, emphasizing that acquiring a space on Shahrah-e-Faisal will provide easier access to patients.
The building, according to Regent Plaza official website, has 440 luxurious guest rooms, including presidential, executive and business suites, besides various other categories of rooms.
Asked about potential traffic snarl-ups due to the hotel’s conversion into a hospital, Zaidi said they would provide an alternate entrance to ensure a smooth flow of traffic on Shahrah-e-Faisal, a signal-free thoroughfare that connects the Karachi airport with the city’s main business hub and is frequented by hundreds of thousands of people daily.
“We will establish an entrance from another direction, eliminating any traffic disruptions,” he said.
The SIUT trustee emphasized that the hotel’s building was an ideal space and acquiring it would be highly beneficial for patients.
“With increased capacity, we will accommodate more patients while ensuring easily accessible facilities,” he added.
PM Sharif arrives in Karachi on day-long visit to meet business community
- Pakistan’s prime minister to be briefed on ways to improve country’s national income during day-long visit, says PM Office
- Sharif to inspect port operations, meet delegation of businessmen from Pakistan’s import and export sectors
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Pakistan’s commercial and industrial hub Karachi on a day-long visit on Sunday to meet members of the business community and review port operations, his office confirmed in a statement.
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest financial and industrial hub and home to over 20 million people. The city has a vibrant business community and several industrial sites, as well as a port that connects it to various continents for trade and helps Pakistan earn a significant amount of revenue.
However, the city’s deteriorating law and order situation and poor infrastructure have frustrated the business community, who have regularly sought interventions from the government to resolve some of the metropolis’ teething issues.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has arrived on a one-day trip to Karachi,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement, adding that he is expected to review port operations and take important decisions during the visit.
“He is also expected to meet a delegation of businessmen from the export and import sectors.”
The PMO statement said Sharif will be briefed on increasing the country’s national income, facilities for the business community and reforms in the export and import sector.
“Important decisions will be taken in this regard,” it said.
PROFILE: Dr. Mehmood Khan, Pakistan’s first scientist to be granted Saudi citizenship
- Dr. Khan has served in key positions in corporate, medical and scientific fields in a career spanning three decades
- Saudi Arabia has opened its citizenship to highly skilled professionals to attract and retain exceptional global talent
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani scientist Dr. Mehmood Khan this week became a member of a distinguished list of doctors, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world who were granted Saudi citizenship, according to a list published by financial news portal Argaam.
An American national, Dr. Khan is currently the chief executive officer of the Hevolution Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to increase the number of aging-related treatments, compress the timeline of drug development, and increase accessibility to therapeutics that extend a human lifespan.
A global non-profit organization headquartered in Riyadh with a North American hub, and an annual budget of up to $1 billion, Hevolution Foundation is the second largest geroscience funder with plans to open offices in other international locations. Geroscience is a field of biomedical research that seeks to understand how aging processes drive chronic diseases.
Dr. Khan was awarded Saudi citizenship after the kingdom opened its citizenship to highly skilled professionals as part of its Vision 2030, aiming to attract and retain exceptional global talent to enhance the kingdom’s economic and social development. A royal decree to this effect was issued in November 2021, allowing people belonging to specialized fields such as science, medicine, culture, sports and technology to apply for citizenship.
Dr. Khan, who earned his medical degree from the University of Liverpool Medical School in England, was also mentioned in the list of all the high achievers who received Saudi citizenship this week in Argaam.
“So I grew up in England, actually haven’t had a chance to grow up in Pakistan,” Dr. Khan said during an interview in 2015 at OPEN Silicon Valley, an international organization of Pakistani entrepreneurs. “Proud to be Pakistani [though].”
He advised budding corporate leaders and those aspiring to make a name for themselves in the medical field to take risks in life and pursue their passion.
“Do take risks. Do not be afraid to take risks and do the best you can but pursue your passion,” he said.
The Pakistani-American scientist has an impressive profile, having served in senior corporate and medical positions in a career spanning three decades.
Dr. Khan has served as the chief executive officer at Life Biosciences Inc, vice chairman and chief scientific officer of global research and development at PepsiCo. from 2007-2019, and as the president of global research and development at renowned Japanese company, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, from 2003-2008.
He has served as director of the diabetes, endocrine and nutritional trials unit at the prestigious Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School from 2001-2003.
Dr. Khan is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a fellow of the American College of Endocrinology as well.
He was the chairman of the US-Pakistan Business Council from 2016-2019 and continues to remain a board member of Reckitt Benckiser, a globally renowned British multinational consumer goods company.
Dr. Khan advised people aspiring to achieve senior positions in the corporate and medical fields to “reinvent” themselves.
“You cannot be the same that you were 30 years ago,” Dr. Khan told OPEN Silicon Valley. “If I was still doing what I learned 30 years ago, I couldn’t even practice medicine, let alone do what I do today.”
Two soldiers, six suspected militants killed in Indian-administered Kashmir— police
- Separate gunbattles are latest incidents in an uptick of attacks in disputed territory
- India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full, have fought three wars for its control
NEW DELHI, India: Two soldiers and six suspected militants were killed in two separate gunbattles in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said Sunday.
Kashmir police Inspector General Vidhi Kumar Birdi told AFP that authorities in the disputed territory had “carried out two different operations” in villages in the Kulgam district.
Birdi said two members of the security forces had been killed, with clashes continuing in Modergram and Frisal Chinnigam villages.
“We have retrieved the bodies of two terrorists from Modergram, and four others from Frisal Chinnigam,” said Birdi.
This is the latest incident in an uptick of attacks in the disputed territory.
India and Pakistan both claim Muslim-majority Kashmir in full and have fought three wars for control of the Himalayan region.
Rebel groups have waged an insurgency since 1989, demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels.
In June, nine Indian Hindu pilgrims were killed and dozens wounded when a gunman opened fire on a bus carrying them from a shrine in the southern Reasi area.
It was one of the deadliest attacks in years and the first on Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir since 2017, when gunmen killed seven people in another ambush on a bus.
Competition commission approves Saudi group Asyad’s acquisition of Shell Pakistan
- Shell’s parent company announced exit from Pakistan last year after selling 77.42 percent of shares to Asyad’s affiliate Wafi Energy
- Competition Commission of Pakistan chairman says acquisition to elevate service standards in country’s retail fuel supply chain
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Saturday approved Saudi Group Asyad Holding’s acquisition of Shell Pakistan through UAE-based Wafi Energy Holding Limited, saying the move would boost the country’s retail oil sector.
Shell Petroleum Company announced its exit from Pakistan in June 2023 with the sale of 77.42 percent shareholding in the local business to Wafi Energy. The move came after Shell made several announcements about its global operations and after Shell Pakistan suffered losses in 2022 due to exchange rates, the devaluation of the Pakistani rupee, and overdue receivables.
Wafi Energy is a wholly-owned affiliate of Asyad Holding Group, a fuel retailer in Saudi Arabia. Shell Pakistan’s operations include more than 600 mobility sites, 10 fuel terminals, a lubricant oil blending plant and a 26 percent shareholding in Pak-Arab Pipeline Company Limited.
“The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has approved the acquisition under Section 11 of the Competition Act, 2010, thus solidifying the said transaction to boost the retail oil sector in Pakistan,” the CCP said in a press release.
The CCP said Shell Pakistan maintains a “substantial business footprint” in the retail supply of motor fuels and lubricants across Pakistan. It also noted that Wafi Energy specializes in managing and operating fuel stations in Saudi Arabia.
The commission said its first assessment phase identified retail fuel, vehicle lubricants and industrial lubricants as the relevant product markets.
“It was also revealed that Shell Pakistan has distinct shares in all three relevant markets but that will remain unchanged post-transaction,” the CCP said.
“The analysis further confirmed that Wafi Energy Holding Limited will not gain a dominant position in the relevant markets even after attaining the direct control of Shell Pakistan.”
While signing the order, CCP Chairman Dr. Kabir Ahmed Sidhu said the move is expected to boost competition by elevating service standards in the retail fuel supply chain and contribute immensely to flourishing Pakistani markets.
