ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rasit Meredow on Monday arrived in Pakistan on a two-day visit, the Pakistani foreign office said, amid Islamabad’s efforts to boost trade with Central Asian states.
Pakistan hopes to leverage its strategic geopolitical position and enhance its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub connecting the landlocked Central Asian republics with the rest of the world.
In recent months, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity between Pakistan and Central Asian states, including meetings with leaders from Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
Upon arrival in Islamabad, FM Meredow was warmly welcomed by Pakistan’s Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
“Foreign Minister Meredov will hold extensive talks with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 and call on the Pakistani leadership,” the foreign office said in a statement.
The talks between the two sides will cover all aspects of bilateral relations as well as regional and global developments, according to Pakistani officials.
Located in a landlocked but resource-rich region, Central Asian countries need better access to regional markets including Pakistan, China, India, and the countries of West Asia.
Islamabad is seeking to bolster trade and investment relations with allies to stabilize its fragile $350 billion economy as it faces an acute balance of payment crisis amid soaring inflation and surging external debt.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, under which Beijing has pledged around $65 billion in energy, infrastructure and other projects in Pakistan, also presents a strategic opportunity for Central Asian states to transport their goods more easily to regional and global markets.
Turkmenistan foreign minister arrives in Islamabad amid Pakistan trade push
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Turkmenistan foreign minister arrives in Islamabad amid Pakistan trade push
- There has been a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity between Pakistan and Central Asian states recently
- Pakistan hopes to enhance its role as pivotal trade and transit hub connecting landlocked Central Asia to the rest of the world
PM congratulates Pakistan’s Haider Ali for winning bronze at Paris Paralympics discus throw
- Ali won the bronze medal with a 52.54-meter throw, clinching his fourth Paralympic medal
- PM Shehbaz Sharif says Ali’s courage, determination are source of inspiration for Pakistanis
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday congratulated Haider Ali for winning bronze at the Men’s Discus Throw event at Paris Paralympics 2024, describing him as an “inspiration for the entire nation.”
Ali won the bronze medal with a 52.54-meter throw, clinching his fourth Paralympic medal. Uzbekistan’s Tolibboy Yuldashev won gold with a massive 57.28m throw, setting a personal best on his sixth attempt
Ali led the field in the first attempt with a solid 52.28-meter throw, but was overtaken by Canada’s Jesse Zesseu, who won silver, with a 52.81m throw in the third round.
In his post on X, Pakistan PM Sharif said his country was celebrating Ali’s performance at the Paris Paralympics.
“Congratulations Haider Ali @HaiderAthlete on winning the Bronze medal at the Paris #Paralympics 2024,” the prime minister said. “Your courage and determination are a source of inspiration for the entire nation. Wishing you the very best!“
The development comes weeks after Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem made history at the Paris Olympics by setting a new record for the longest javelin throw and winning a gold medal for his country.
His record-breaking 92.97m javelin throw in Paris earned Pakistan its first Olympic medal since the 1992 Barcelona Games and first gold medal since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Pakistan reports 17th polio case of this year in Islamabad
- This is the first human case reported in Pakistan’s federal capital of Islamabad in 16 years
- Pakistan has reported 12 polio cases in Balochistan, three in Sindh and one in Punjab this year
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported another case of polio virus in the federal capital of Islamabad, authorities said on Friday, taking the national tally to 17 this year.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio at the National Institute of Health detected the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in a child from Union Council Rural 4 of Islamabad, according the country’s polio program.
This is the first human case reported in Islamabad in 16 years, while environmental samples from the capital and neighboring Rawalpindi district have been positive for WPV1 since June, underscoring the persistent threat of polio to children’s well-being.
“It is incredibly heartbreaking that another Pakistan child has been affected by a disease that has no cure, but is entirely preventable with the help of an easily accessible vaccine,” Ayesha Raza Farooq, Prime Minister’s focal person for polio eradication, said in a statement.
In view of the “intense outbreak” of poliovirus in the country, she said, the polio program had held in-depth consultative sessions with the provinces and districts to implement plans to improve all aspects of polio eradication activities, starting from a polio campaign beginning next week.
“From September 9 onwards, polio teams will go house-to-house in 115 districts to vaccinate more than 33 million children under five,” Farooq said. “This virus does not discriminate. Wherever it finds a child with weak immunity, it will attack. Parents must understand the urgency of ensuring that their children receive polio drops and are up to date on their routine immunization.”
Muhammad Anwarul Haq, coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for polio eradication, said the polio program was launching this targeted vaccination campaign particularly in districts where the virus had been detected and where the risk of continued transmission and spread was really high.
“We’re ramping up efforts to reach every child with polio vaccines, including in Islamabad,” he said. “We have a collective responsibility to protect the health and wellbeing of our children.”
Haq reiterated that unfortunately, parents had not always welcomed and opened their doors to the vaccinators when they visited their homes.
“I encourage all parents and caregivers to make sure your children are not missed when the vaccinators visit your house next week,” he added.
Pakistan earlier reported 12 polio cases from Balochistan, three from Sindh and one from Punjab this year.
Pakistan invites investment from Oman as it looks for external financing avenues
- Pakistan in July reached a bailout loan deal with the IMF which is pending approval from the lender’s executive board
- Approval dependent on “confirmation of necessary financing assurances from Pakistan’s development, bilateral partners”
ISLAMABAD: Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has invited Oman to enhance investments in Pakistan, state media reported on Friday, as the South Asian country struggles to meet external financing needs as part of a $7 billion bailout loan that is pending approval by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board.
Aurangzeb has said in recent weeks Pakistan will focus on meeting its external financing needs by speaking with foreign governments and lenders to draw foreign investment as well as seeking loan rollovers. The government is also seeking to focus on more sustainable forms of external financing such as direct investment and climate financing.
Pakistan and the IMF reached an agreement for the 37-month loan program in July. The IMF has said the program is subject to approval from its executive board and obtaining “timely confirmation of necessary financing assurances from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners.”
On Thursday, Aurangzeb held a virtual meeting with the chairman of the Pak Oman Investment Company Limited, Juland Jaifer Salim Al-Said, “to discuss ways for expanding business collaborations and enhancing investment and trade flows between the two brotherly countries.”
The minister provided an in-depth overview of Pakistan’s current economic situation, emphasizing progress made in stabilizing the economy and fostering a conducive environment for business and investment.
“Aurangzeb said the government is determined to push ahead with its reform agenda to facilitate the private sector, promote businesses and provide a secure and friendly investment climate,” Radio Pakistan reported.
“Finance Minister highlighted the significant strides achieved in recent months to stabilize the economy and put it on a sustainable path of growth. He also mentioned the improvements registered in several macro and micro economic indicators of the economy as well as a host of structural reforms undertaken in various sectors of the economy, including energy, taxation, privatization, and downsizing of government to let the private sector lead the growth with the government playing the role of a facilitator, in the process.”
Radio Pakistan said the Pak Oman Investment Company chairman said Oman viewed “Pakistan as a brotherly country and a potential place for business and investment.”
“He expressed hope that due to opening up of more investment opportunities in Pakistan in the wake of ongoing economic reforms, there would be more business collaborations,” Radio Pakistan said.
The first Pakistani Business Expo will be held in Muscat on October 13-14.
Pakistan is in talks with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China to meet gross financing needs under the IMF program, Aurangzeb said in July following a trip to China to seek energy sector debt reprofiling.
Rollovers or disbursements on loans from Pakistan’s long-time allies, in addition to financing from the IMF, have helped Pakistan meet its external financing needs in the past.
Tough conditionalities placed by the IMF, such as raising tax on agricultural incomes and lifting electricity prices, have unleashed street protests and prompted concerns about poor and middle class Pakistanis grappling with rising inflation and the prospect of higher taxes.
Electric vehicles will account for up to half of auto sales by 2030, BYD Pakistan says
- Warren Buffett-backed Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD last month announced its entry into Pakistan
- Partnership has announced plans to open assembly plant in 2026 but will introduce vehicles for sale this year
KARACHI: Up to 50% of all vehicles bought in Pakistan by 2030 will be electrified in some form in line with global targets, BYD Pakistan, a partnership between China’s BYD and Pakistani car group Mega Motors, said.
Warren Buffett-backed Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD last month announced its entry into Pakistan, making the South Asian nation of 250 million people one of its newest markets.
The partnership has announced plans to open an assembly plant in early 2026, but will introduce vehicles for sale later this year, after launching three models in August.
“I see conversion to new energy vehicles NEV at up to 50 percent,” Kamran Kamal, BYD’s spokesperson in Pakistan, told Reuters in an interview at his office on Thursday.
Kamal is also the CEO of Hub Power, which owns Mega Motors.
The target is an ambitious one for Pakistan’s auto sector, which has been largely dominated by Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Suzuki, with vehicle sales hitting a 15-year low in the fiscal year to June.
Recently South Korea’s KIA has begun challenging for market share along with Chinese companies Changan and MG, all of whom offer hybrid vehicles. BYD Pakistan is the first major new energy vehicle entrant in the Pakistani market.
Hybrid electric vehicle sales in Pakistan have more than doubled in the past year. While reaching 30 percent NEV adoption by 2030 is feasible, achieving 50 percent may be more challenging due to infrastructure hurdles, said Muhammad Abrar Polani, auto sector analyst at Arif Habib Limited.
Kamal said the challenge of charging infrastructure would be addressed by government plans to incentivise its construction.
Local media reported in August that standards for EV charging stations had been drafted by the power ministry, with the government considering offering them affordable electricity.
Kamal said BYD Pakistan is collaborating with two oil marketing companies to establish a charging infrastructure network and aims to establish 20 to 30 charging stations within the initial phases concurrent with the rollout of its cars.
BYD Pakistan will initially sell fully assembled vehicles, which are subject to higher import charges than vehicles shipped in parts and assembled locally.
“Our main focus is to have locally assembled cars on the roads as soon as possible,” said Kamal, citing difficulties in importing and selling fully assembled units under Pakistan’s current duty structure.
Kamran said BYD Pakistan is deciding on the size of a new plant, but details about the investment and partnership with power utility HUBCO will be disclosed later.
Pakistan calls for collective effort to combat ‘misuse of Islam’ to foment militancy
- Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi meets religious affairs minister, religious scholars to form joint strategy
- Pakistan has recently seen a huge surge in violence by religiously motivated and separatist militants
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday called for action against individuals and groups misusing Islam to incite “terrorism,” urging unity among all segments of society to defeat militancy amid a surge in attacks across the country in recent months.
Earlier this week, Naqvi had announced plans to consult religious scholars from different sects to develop a unified narrative in the war against terror. The efforts come nearly two weeks after separatist militants killed over 50 people in the country’s largest province of Balochistan in a string of coordinated attacks on army and paramilitary camps, police stations, railway lines and highways on the night of Aug. 25-26.
Elsewhere in the country, particularly the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, religiously motivated groups like the Pakistani Taliban have also stepped up attacks, daily targeting security forces convoys and check posts, and carrying out targeted killings and kidnappings of security and government officials.
“The most important thing is that we unite as Pakistanis. Paths of those who are leading people astray by misusing Islam to foment terrorism should be stopped,” Naqvi said on Friday as he addressed a meeting of religious scholars.
“We have to get out of this fire [of terrorism] which we can’t without your help [religious scholars].”
Pakistan has also been wracked in recent years by so-called blasphemy protests by hard-line religious groups, and lynchings over the issue are common in the Islamic republic where blasphemy can legally carry the death penalty. Legal processes are frequently preceded by vigilante action based on rumors or complaints and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a report on Pakistan last December that in many cases the perpetrators operate with impunity.
Speaking about these issues, Naqvi stressed the importance of involving religious scholars from all schools of thought to formulate a strategy against “extremism.” He reiterated the government’s stance that anyone taking up arms against the state would be considered a “terrorist” and killing individuals in the name of Islam was neither permitted by the religion, nor Pakistani laws.
Naqvi announced that Religious Affairs Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain would accompany him on a trip to all provinces along with ulema leaders to spread the “true message” of Islam.
“We have to give the same message that using Islam for wrongful purposes needs to be stopped,” he said.
“The interior and religious ministry will work with you [ulema] together and follow your suggestions. We have to give a strong message in this regard.”
Pakistan has blamed the recent surge in attacks on regional neighbors, including Afghanistan, where it says the coming to power of the Afghan Taliban in 2021 has emboldened anti-Pakistan groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Kabul says it does not allow its territory to be used by terror groups.
Pakistan also says that India and Afghanistan are fomenting militancy in Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan and has been the site of a decades-long separatist insurgency. Ethnic Baloch militants say they are fighting for secession due to what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province’s mineral and gas wealth by the federation, which denies the charge.
