Pakistan eyes $2 billion exports to UAE in next fiscal year amid growing bilateral trade

Pakistan eyes $2 billion exports to UAE in next fiscal year amid growing bilateral trade
Shipping containers are seen stacked on a ship at a sea port in Karachi on April 6, 2023. (AFP/ file)
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Updated 13 August 2024
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Pakistan eyes $2 billion exports to UAE in next fiscal year amid growing bilateral trade

Pakistan eyes $2 billion exports to UAE in next fiscal year amid growing bilateral trade
  • Pakistan’s exports to the UAE reached $1.59 billion during the last financial year, according to official figures
  • Pakistan’s diplomatic mission wants to set up the Pak-UAE Joint Business Council to further increase commerce

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to increase its exports to the United Arab Emirates to $2 billion by the end of the next fiscal year, one of its diplomats in the Gulf state said over the weekend, pointing to a progressive increase in bilateral trade over a five-year period.

The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States, with a bilateral trade volume of nearly $5.6 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24. Of this, Pakistani exports to the UAE reached $1.59 billion, while its imports stood at $4 billion.

Additionally, with over 1.8 million of its nationals residing in the Arab state, the UAE is the second-largest source of remittances for Pakistan, contributing around $5.5 billion last year, which constituted nearly 18% of the country’s total remittances.

“Over the last five years, Pakistan’s exports to the UAE have shown a steady upward trend, rising from $1.09 billion in 2019-20 to $1.17 billion in 2020-21, $1.30 billion in 2021-22, $1.40 billion in 2022-23 and $1.59 billion in 2023-24,” Ali Zeb Khan, Trade and Investment Counselor at the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai, told Arab News over the phone.

“From $1.59 billion, we expect to increase our exports to $1.75 billion in this financial year [2024-25] and up to $2 billion in 2025-26,” he added.

Pakistan’s main exports to the UAE include rice, meat, fruits, vegetables, fish, frozen food, edible oil, dairy products, beverages, textile articles and footwear.

“Currently, Pakistan’s exports to the UAE are valued at $1.59 billion, while the actual potential is much greater than that,” Khan said.

He informed that based on trade data, patterns and market intelligence, key sectors and products had been identified for export enhancement to the UAE.

“These include agro-products such as cereals, rice, maize, meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, such as potatoes, onions, mangoes and citrus, seafood, spices, condiments, pickles, halal processed meat products, dairy and sugar confectionery,” he continued.

The Pakistani diplomat said other focused sectors included apparel and textile products, engineering goods such as electric fans, sports goods, surgical products, cutlery, plastics, iron and steel along with other minerals.

Asked about the challenges to the development of bilateral trade potential, he mentioned the insufficient availability of a centralized database of bilateral business entities and traders, saying it slowed down the pace of networking and business matching efforts.

“Another challenge is the non-existence of regional offices of sector-wise Pakistani Business Associations in the UAE … for collective and synergized efforts,” he said.

“The escalation in freight charges has also increased the cost of Pakistan’s major export commodities, such as textiles, rice, and fruits,” he continued.

Khan said the Pakistan mission had been in regular contact with the relevant authorities to increase the country’s exports to the UAE, seeking the establishment of the Pak-UAE Joint Business Council.

He informed that the mission was also working to arrange visits of business chamber delegations since the identification of potential sectors.

Khan pointed out that the UAE’s strategic location and ease of doing business had made it a vital global trade and transit hub, serving other markets in the Middle East and Africa.

“Since the UAE is also home to world-class trade events, Pakistan’s companies operating in various sectors also actively participate in many mega exhibitions like Gulfood, Arab Health, Gitex and ME Energy to showcase their products and make good business deals,” he continued while describing Pakistan’s trade with the Gulf state as “of utmost importance.”

 


Pakistan to sign agreements worth over $2 billion with incoming Saudi delegation— PM Sharif

Pakistan to sign agreements worth over $2 billion with incoming Saudi delegation— PM Sharif
Updated 5 sec ago
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Pakistan to sign agreements worth over $2 billion with incoming Saudi delegation— PM Sharif

Pakistan to sign agreements worth over $2 billion with incoming Saudi delegation— PM Sharif
  • Saudi Arabia’s investment minister is scheduled to visit Pakistan from Oct. 9-11 with high-level delegation 
  • PM Shehbaz Sharif vows government will not let opposition “sabotage” Pakistan’s economic progress 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will sign agreements worth over $2 billion with an incoming delegation from Saudi Arabia later this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday, vowing that his government will not let the opposition derail the country from its path to economic progress. 

Saudi Arabia’s Investment Minister Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih is scheduled to visit Pakistan with a high-level delegation from Oct. 9-11, Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed on Monday. The Saudi delegation will arrive in Islamabad ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit scheduled to be held in the capital from Oct. 15-16. Pakistan’s foreign office said the Saudi delegation’s visit is aimed at boosting economic cooperation between the two countries. 

Addressing his cabinet members, Sharif took aim at former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, saying that its protests last week were aimed at hurting the country’s current economic gains. 

“And now that a Saudi delegation is coming and we are to sign agreements or MoUs worth more than $2 billion with them, to sabotage all these efforts is the biggest enmity against Pakistan,” the prime minister said during his televised address. 

“We will not allow this, we will not tolerate this and under no circumstances this will be allowed. Under any rate, under any cost,” he added. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working in recent months to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reaffirming the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite an investment package of $5 billion to the South Asian country earlier this year.

Pakistan has been eyeing closer cooperation in trade, defense, energy and other sectors of the economy with regional allies as it seeks to escape a prolonged economic crisis that has drained its foreign exchange reserves and weakened its currency. 

The South Asian country formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a hybrid civil-military body, last year to fast-track decisions related to investment. The SIFC seeks to attract foreign investment, particularly from Gulf countries, for its viral economic sectors. 

’UNBREACHABLE SECURITY’

The Pakistani prime minister also spoke about the Karachi blast on Sunday night that killed three people, including two Chinese nationals. The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which routinely targets Chinese interests in Pakistan, had claimed responsibility for the incident.

Sharif said when a suicide bomber killed five Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project in Pakistan during March this year, the Chinese government sent Pakistan a “concerning” message, asking Islamabad to strengthen security measures for its citizens. 

The Pakistani prime minister said he had informed Chinese officials that Pakistan regretted the incident and was embarrassed by it. 

“But this does not mean that we will let go of matters. Our spirits are higher than they were before,” Sharif said. “And we will not spare any effort in strengthening these matters and to make security unbreachable [for Chinese nationals],” he added. 

The Pakistani prime minister said he had informed China’s ambassador in Islamabad regarding the security measures being taken by Pakistan ahead of the SCO summit. 

China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan, having pledged over $65 billion in road, infrastructure and development projects in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, that aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea and help Islamabad expand and modernize its economy.


Pakistani woman, cousin arrested for poisoning 13 family members over marriage dispute

Pakistani woman, cousin arrested for poisoning 13 family members over marriage dispute
Updated 25 min 32 sec ago
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Pakistani woman, cousin arrested for poisoning 13 family members over marriage dispute

Pakistani woman, cousin arrested for poisoning 13 family members over marriage dispute
  • Incident took place in a settlement in Sindh after the girl’s father opposed the marriage
  • Police initially suspected that the family had died after consuming contaminated milk

KARACHI: Pakistani police have arrested a woman and her cousin for allegedly poisoning 13 family members to death after facing opposition to their marriage, a police official said on Tuesday.

Ameer Bux Brohi and Shaista Brohi, cousins from a small settlement in Sindh, had hoped to marry each other, but their families disapproved of their decision. Last month, Ameer brought poison, which Shaista mixed into the dough, killing six people instantly. Seven more died later while receiving medical treatment.

Initially, authorities believed the victims had died from consuming contaminated milk. However, chemical analysis conducted by the Sukkur Chemical Laboratory confirmed the presence of toxic substances, including insecticide and benzodiazepine, in the bodies of the deceased.

“We have arrested both Ameer Bux Brohi and Shaista Brohi, who have confessed to their crime,” Dr. Samiullah Soomro, Senior Superintendent of Police in Khairpur, told Arab News. “They told the police that they loved each other and together poisoned their family members.”

Talib Hussain Junejo, Station House Officer in the area where the incident happened, said both families lived together in the same house and consumed the poisoned food. He also informed that 15 members of both families, including Ameer and Shaista, were present when the meals were served, making the law enforcement officials suspicious.
The couple informed the police that Gul Baig, the Shaista’s father, had refused the marriage.

“We both decided not to flee to get married,” the police officer said while quoting the suspects’ statement. “Instead, we chose to kill everyone so we could marry freely.”

Junejo said that man and the woman also expressed regret over the actions during the interrogation.

The incident echoes a similar case from 2017, when 21-year-old Aasia Bibi was accused of poisoning her husband’s milk, resulting in the deaths of 17 members of his extended family.

Bibi had repeatedly rejected the man’s marriage proposal but was ultimately forced to marry him. After the wedding, she decided to poison her husband but also caused the death of the rest of the family.


A hand-written Qur’an with Sindhi translation passed down over generations in Pakistan’s Karachi

A hand-written Qur’an with Sindhi translation passed down over generations in Pakistan’s Karachi
Updated 59 min 55 sec ago
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A hand-written Qur’an with Sindhi translation passed down over generations in Pakistan’s Karachi

A hand-written Qur’an with Sindhi translation passed down over generations in Pakistan’s Karachi
  • Abdul Latif Sultan Dino Bhojani completed the manuscript in 1932 after working on it for two decades
  • Rajasthani-speaking family tries to read daily read from Sindhi Qur’an copy to keep grandfather’s work alive

KARACHI: Saghir Hussain Bhojani, a 76-year-old retired statistician, read out the Sindhi translation at his home in Karachi earlier this month as his teenage nephew Mashhood Shoaib Bhojani recited an Arabic verse from a handwritten copy of the Holy Qur’an.

This daily ritual serves not only as a spiritual practice for the Marwari family but also as a bridge to connect them with the Qur’an translation Bhojani’s grandfather, Abdul Latif Sultan Dino Bhojani, took over two decades to write by hand and complete in 1932.

“This [copy of] Holy Qur’an, which Allah has given us through our grandfather, is the greatest treasure for us,” Bhojani, the current custodian of the holy book, told Arab News about the handwritten Qur’anic copy with Sindhi translation. 

Bhojani, whose family is Rajasthani-speaking, said he had received the copy from his mother who had gotten it from her father-in-law when she was 20. 

“My father-in-law trusted me,” Zaitoon Bhojani, 95, told Arab News, recalling how Abdul Latif believed she would take care of the translation he had spent decades preparing and handed her the holy book in 1948, just months before he passed away on January 20, 1949, at age 65.

Zaitoon said her father-in-law sought help in preparing the book from a trunk-full of papers that he carried with him as he moved homes in the cities of Hyderabad, Rohri and finally Karachi, where the Silawat community from Jaisalmer in present day India settled after migrating for business to the region some two centuries ago.

Zaitoon preserved the Qur’an copy and made it a point to ensure her nine children, three daughters and six sons, read it regularly, but as she grew older, she decided to pass it on to her eldest son, Bhojani.

“PRECIOUS INHERITANCE”

Born in 1886, Abdul Latif was the first Muslim mayor of Dadu district in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province and was elected chairman of the Kotri municipality several times. But being a close associate of Soreh Badshah, a champion of Hindu-Muslim unity and a freedom fighter executed by the British, cost him much of his property.

“We do not regret this loss because Allah has bestowed upon us a far more precious inheritance, the Holy Qur’an,” said Bhojani. “No matter how much we take pride in it, it is never enough.”

Abdul Latif spoke Marwari but chose to write in Sindhi for two reasons, according to his grandson: firstly, Marwari itself was not a formal language at the time, and secondly, he was far more proficient in Sindhi.

“He was the most prominent personality in Kotri,” Bhojani said, regretting that the Sindhi manuscript, a rarity at the time it was completed, was never printed.

“My parents were not very educated and didn’t have much understanding, which is why they couldn’t do it,” Bhojani, who retired as a Grade-18 chief statistician in Sindh, told Arab News. 

“It’s also my own incompetence that I didn’t pay attention to [printing] it later ... It should be preserved and read the way my grandfather worked hard to prepare it.”

Bhojani’s nephew, Mashhood, an 18-year-old computer science student, said he would strive to continue the family tradition of reading from and preserving the inherited book. 

“Our native language is Rajasthani and the [copy of] this Qur’an is in Sindhi,” he said as he took a brief pause from recitation.

“I still continue to read it with my uncle so that people like me remain in our family who can continue to read and understand it.”


PCB chief ‘confident’ India will tour Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2025

PCB chief ‘confident’ India will tour Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2025
Updated 59 min 17 sec ago
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PCB chief ‘confident’ India will tour Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2025

PCB chief ‘confident’ India will tour Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2025
  • Pakistan is set to host ICC Champions Trophy 2025 from February to March next year 
  • India have not sent its cricket team to Pakistan since 2008 due to political tensions

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has said he is “confident” India will tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025 tournament scheduled to be held in February next year, sports website ESPNcricinfo reported. 

Pakistan, who won the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 by beating arch-rivals India in the final, will defend their title on home soil. The tournament is scheduled to be played from Feb. 19 to Mar. 9 2025 in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi venues of the city. 

India has not sent its national cricket team to Pakistan since 2008 owing to political tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors. Pakistan, however, visited India last year in November 2023 to participate in the 50-over World Cup after India refused to tour Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023. 

India’s refusal prompted Pakistan to agree to a “hybrid” formula for Asia Cup 2023, with some matches being played in Pakistan while others, including the final, were played in Sri Lanka. India has said its government will have the final say in whether the cricket team will tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. 

“The Indian team should come. I don’t see them cancel or postpone coming here and we are confident we will host all the teams in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Naqvi as saying. 

To prepare for the megaevent, Pakistan’s cricket authorities started renovating its Karachi and Lahore stadiums in August. 

“The stadiums will also be ready to host the matches on schedule and any remaining work would be completed after the tournament,” Naqvi said. “In a way, you can say that we are going to have a brand new stadium.”

Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s federal interior minister, was asked if he and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar would meet when the latter arrives in Islamabad next week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization moot. 

“He is coming but I don’t think the details of his meetings have been set,” the PCB chief said. 


Pakistan’s stock market surpasses historic 85,000 points during intra-day trading

Pakistan’s stock market surpasses historic 85,000 points during intra-day trading
Updated 08 October 2024
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Pakistan’s stock market surpasses historic 85,000 points during intra-day trading

Pakistan’s stock market surpasses historic 85,000 points during intra-day trading
  • KSE-100 benchmark index surges by 665.81 points or 0.78 percent to reach all-time high 85,576.10 points during intra-day trading 
  • Bullish trend fueled by market speculation regarding cut in policy rate, strong earning by blue chip oil companies, say analysts

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its bullish trend on Tuesday with the benchmark KSE-100 index surging by 665.81 points or 0.78 percent to reach an all-time high 85,576.10 points, with analysts attributing the impressive surge to market speculation about a cut in the policy rate and strong earnings of oil companies. 

The PSX witnessed an impressive rally on Monday with the KSE-100 index surging to just under 85,000 points, which analysts said was fueled by strong performances in blue-chip oil stocks and overall optimism regarding the economy. 

Pakistan’s economic indicators have improved after the South Asian country secured a $7 billion, 37-month bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month. Pakistan’s central bank also cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points to 17.5 percent in September, making it the third straight reduction since June. 

“Higher global crude oil prices, falling banking lending rates and the government’s deliberation on the privatization of state-owned entities played a catalyst role in the bullish activity in the PSX,” Ahsan Mehnati, the managing director and chief executive officer Arif Habib Commodities, told Arab News. 

Stock market information app Investify Pakistan also attributed the bullish trend to “strong investor interest and significant contributions from blue-chip oil stocks.”

“The market, which experienced an initial dip, gained momentum due to factors such as rising global crude oil prices, anticipation of strong earnings from oil companies, and a recent successful settlement between Pakistan Petroleum Limited and Iraq’s Midland Oil Company,” Investify Pakistan said on social media platform X. 

Topline Securities, a leading brokerage house in Pakistan, had attributed the bullish trend in the stock market to “falling bond yields and an expected sharp drop in inflation, igniting a wave of optimism in the market.”

The South Asian country last year narrowly avoided a sovereign default when it clinched a $3 billion IMF loan program. Pakistan has suffered a prolonged economic crisis that drained its foreign exchange reserves last year and saw its currency weaken significantly amid double-digit inflation.