Thousands gather at Liaquat Bagh on Benazir’s death anniversary
Thousands gather at Liaquat Bagh on Benazir’s death anniversary/node/1605006/pakistan
Thousands gather at Liaquat Bagh on Benazir’s death anniversary
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Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses supporters on his late mother Benazir Bhutto's 12th death anniversary in Rawalpindi, Dec 27, 2019. (Photo Courtesy: PPP Media Cell)
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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (R) addresses to supporters on his late mother Benazir Bhutto's 12th death anniversary in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2019. (AFP)
KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supporters gathered at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on Friday, where the country’s former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated 12 years ago.
For years, the PPP has been observing Benazir’s death anniversary in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, a town in Sindh where she is buried in the family grave. This year, for the first time, the party held a public gathering in Liaquat Bagh.
Benazir, who took oath as the first female prime minister of Pakistan on Dec. 2, 1988, was the first woman to lead a Muslim state. She served as the country’s prime minister again in 1993-96. Born on June 21, 1953, in Karachi, Benazir was the eldest child of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s ninth prime minister.
Benazir’s son, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spoke to thousands of the PPP supporters who came from all over the country to attend the mourning ceremony.
“She fought with three dictators, she faced extremists and terrorists,” Bilawal said. “They said a woman couldn’t become prime minister but she became the first prime minister of the Muslim ummah.”
He said his mother returned to Pakistan in 2007, after years in exile, to free the masses from dictators.
In reference to the present situation, Bilawal said that “although terrorism has been controlled, the fire of extremism has spread all over the country and people from across Pakistan are protesting for their rights.” He added that the parliament had lost its worth, media was controlled and the rights of provinces had been curtailed.
He said he will complete his mother’s mission and bring economic justice to the country.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s State Minister for Information Technology (IT) Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Monday met with representatives of Saudi Arabian IT firms, who are currently visiting Pakistan, and urged them to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan’s IT and telecom sector, the Pakistani IT ministry said.
These IT professionals are part of a high-level Saudi delegation, led by the Kingdom’s Assistant Minister of Investment Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, which arrived in Pakistan on Sunday.
“We are dedicated to offering a stable and supportive framework,” Khawaja told the Saudi delegates. “We encourage all Saudi companies to explore opportunities for partnerships and joint ventures.”
She urged the Saudi delegates to capitalize on the synergies between Pakistan’s technical proficiency and the access to the Saudi market, accompanied by the potential for valuable investments.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working in recent weeks to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month reaffirming the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite an investment package of $5 billion.
Also on Monday, the Saudi assistant minister of investment said Pakistan was a “high-priority economic investment and business opportunity” for Saudi Arabia. He was addressing a two-day Pakistan-Saudi Arabia investment conference in Islamabad, with a focus on business-to-business engagements.
“To the Saudi government and Saudi companies, Pakistan is considered a high-priority economic investment and business opportunity,” he said. “We believe in the great potential of Pakistan’s economy, demographics and talent as well as location and natural resources.”
The Saudi business delegation’s visit comes more than a week after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Riyadh to attend a special two-day meeting of the World Economic Forum, where he met top Saudi officials on the sidelines.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense, and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as a top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
Saudi Manara Minerals’ team in Pakistan for talks on Reko Diq mine stake, document shows
Reko Diq in southwestern Pakistan is considered one of world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas
Manara officials are part of large delegation of Saudi investors, companies that arrived in Islamabad on Sunday
Updated 6 min 59 sec ago
Reuters
ISLAMABAD: Executives from Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals are in Islamabad to continue talks about buying a stake in Pakistan’s Reko Diq gold and copper mine, a Pakistan government document showed on Monday.
The mine, located in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, is considered one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas by global mining company Barrick Gold Corp, which owns the project jointly with Pakistan.
The Manara officials are part of a large delegation of Saudi investors and companies that arrived in Islamabad on Sunday, according to a document seen by Reuters listing officials in the delegation.
The document listed Manara Minerals’ general manager as wanting to “continue the negotiations on the Reko Diq project.”
Barrick has said it will invest up to $10 billion to develop the project.
Manara Minerals, a joint venture between state-owned Saudi miner Ma’aden and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), declined to comment.
Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik and Commerce Minister Jam Kamal said on Monday that the Saudi delegation, representing three dozen investors and companies, will meet Pakistani companies to explore investment in sectors including agriculture, mining, aviation and livestock.
They did not name the Saudi companies.
Manara’s acting CEO Robert Wilt told Reuters in an interview in January that the company was in talks to potentially buy a stake in the Reko Diq mine.
Bloomberg has reported that Manara was initially interested in investing $1 billion to take a minority share in the copper mine.
Malik, the petroleum minister, who was also appointed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as a focal person for Saudi investments, did not respond to a Reuters request for a comment.
The Saudi delegation’s trip to Islamabad follows Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah’s visit to Islamabad last month, when he was briefed by Pakistani authorities on various avenues to invest in the country.
Pakistan, which is trying to navigate a path to economic recovery after securing an IMF bailout, desperately needs foreign investment to help fight a chronic balance of payments crisis.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani startups, MyTM and Zindigi, have partnered with JS Bank and MasterCard to unveil the Sullis Hajj Card, a “revolutionary” financial product designed to provide pilgrims a cashless experience during their spiritual journey, a senior MyTM official said on Monday.
MyTM, a Pakistan-based startup with operations in the Kingdom, offers digital payments and financial services, while Zindigi is one of the first fully digital banks of Pakistan that offers unprecedented personalization to its customers.
Traditionally, the Hajj journey involves numerous financial transactions from visa fees to accommodation and transportation. The Sullis Hajj Card encapsulates the concept of internationally enabling pilgrims to manage their expenses without the need to carry cash.
“For the first time in Pakistan, this initiative enables a cashless Hajj in the first phase and later on Umrah experience, offering ease of transactions with reduced charges and almost no taxes otherwise applicable on all traditional cards during international transactions,” Jawad Mahmood, chief executive officer of MyTM Saudi Arabia, told Arab News on the sidelines of the Sullis Hajj Card launch in Islamabad.
Officials from Pakistani startup MyTM, JS Bank, Zindigi, and Mastercard launched the Sullis Hajj Card in Islamabad, Pakistan on May 6, 2024, to provide pilgrims with a cashless experience during the annual pilgrimage. (AN Photo)
Through this card, he said, MyTM, Zindigi, JS Bank, and MasterCard were collaborating to offer pilgrims favorable exchange rates, easy money withdrawal and a wide acceptability across Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and requires every adult Muslim to undertake the journey to the holy Islamic sites in Makkah at least once in their lifetime if they are financially and physically able.
Pakistan has a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims this year. Of them, 63,805 pilgrims will be performing the pilgrimage under the government scheme, while the rest would be accommodated by private tour operators, according to the Pakistani religious affairs ministry.
The Hajj card will be launched for public on May 15, with applications opening through the MyTM app, according to the MyTM Saudi Arabia official. The innovative financial product is a great example of moving forward on Pakistan’s national financial inclusion policy and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 as both governments are currently focusing on digital economy.
“Right now, a lot of people who are going there face a lot of issues sometimes they have some currency exchange issues, sometimes they get high rates and sometimes they lose their money,” Mahmood said, adding the initiative would not only enhance convenience but also increase financial security of pilgrims performing Hajj and Umrah.
Rizwan Saeed Qureshi, an additional secretary for the Middle East in Pakistan’s foreign ministry, termed the Hajj card a “good omen” for Pakistan’s fintech sector.
“This is the first-ever pilot to the best of our understanding for cashless Hajj to start with and certainly subsequently Umrah,” he told Arab News.
“Hopefully it will succeed as a pilot and then expand in terms of its implementation, in terms of its application, in terms of its coverage to the entire Hajj operation.”
This year’s pilgrimage is expected to run from June 14 till June 19.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will sign “solid agreements worth billions of dollars” soon, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday during a dinner held in honor of a high-level Saudi business delegation visiting the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
A 50-member delegation, led by the Kingdom’s Assistant Minister of Investment Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday, with representatives of some 30 Saudi firms from the fields of IT, telecom, energy, aviation, construction, mining exploration, agriculture and human resource development.
Speaking at the dinner, Sharif expressed satisfaction over what he called “tangible progress” at a Pakistani-Saudi Arabia investment conference held in Islamabad earlier in the day.
“Today, B2B (business-to-business) interactions have been most productive,” he said. “That time is coming very fast, when we will, God willing, witness agreements, solid agreements worth billions of dollars. That will set the ball rolling.”
Sharif said his government was determined to remove hurdles in the way of the speedy achievement of targets.
“And I want to assure you that in that, we are fully resolved and committed,” the PM said, adding that the Saudi side had expressed confidence in the working of Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), set up last year to oversee all foreign investments in the country.
Speaking at the dinner, the Saudi assistant investment minister said Pakistan was a “strategic” partner and friend.
“The private sectors have interacted very quickly. We have spoken to them, only a few days after we have spoken to them, everybody showed interest,” he added. “The relationship with Pakistan has always been strong, but we look for it to be even stronger, and we can do great things together. I am sure we can achieve both countries’ aspirations and visions.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been working closely in recent weeks to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month reaffirming the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite an investment package of $5 billion.
The Saudi business delegation’s visit comes on the heels of one by Sharif to Riyadh from Apr. 27-30 to attend a special two-day meeting of the World Economic Forum.
On the sidelines of the WEF conference, the Pakistani PM met and discussed bilateral investment and economic partnerships with the crown prince and the Saudi ministers of finance, industries, investment, energy, climate, and economy and planning, the adviser of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council and the presidents of the Saudi central bank and Islamic Development Bank.
This was Sharif’s second meeting with the crown prince in a month. Before that, he also met him when he traveled to the Kingdom on April 6-8. The Saudi foreign minister was also in Pakistan last month, a trip during which Pakistan pitched projects worth at least $20 billion to Riyadh, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense, and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as a top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
INVESTMENT CONFERENCE
Speaking at the investment conference on Monday morning, Al-Mubarak said this was his second visit to Pakistan in two weeks and many influential leaders from globally renowned Saudi companies were part of his delegation.
“To the Saudi government and Saudi companies, Pakistan is considered a high-priority economic investment and business opportunity,” Al-Mubarak said.
“Today, we want to connect you [Pakistan] all to Saudi companies who desire to continue building their international presence, for Saudi Arabia’s ambitions do not stop at our borders and we would like to see Pakistan as one of our leading international partners,” the Saudi official added.
“So, this gathering provides a wonderful opportunity for them [Saudi companies] to develop a deeper understanding of the great opportunities available for investment in Pakistan and to learn about related regulations, requirements, and incentives.”
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Petroleum Minister Dr. Musadik Malik said 125 Pakistani companies were negotiating with the Saudi companies who were visiting Islamabad.
“First, there were government-to-government agreements during the visit of the Saudi foreign minister [last month] and now there will be business-to-business agreements,” he said.
“To facilitate the visiting Saudi companies, the Pakistani commerce ministry has affiliated one focal person with each Saudi company.”
Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan said high officials of more than 32 Saudi companies were in Pakistan.
“Pakistani companies are present here, in the energy sector, in the food sector, in the construction sector, in the renewable section, in the ports and shipping section, and the IT services and general services,” Khan told reporters.
He said the visit by the Saudi delegation was “just the beginning” and now a Pakistani delegation would visit the Kingdom nect “to move forward toward the implementation phase.”
KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), one of the coalition partners in the Pakistani government, on Monday said it would resist privatization of the country’s national airline and other state entities regardless of its potential impact on the government’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month for a new bailout program.
Pakistan last month completed a short-term, $3 billion IMF program, which helped stave off a sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer-term program.
An IMF mission is expected to visit Pakistan in the mid of May to discuss the upcoming budget, policies and reforms under a potential new program. Pakistan’s financial year runs from July to June and its budget for fiscal year 2025, the first by Sharif’s new government, has to be presented before June 30.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday said he was hopeful that the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and other privatization deals would get through the “finishing line” by early July.
“The IMF is not in our ten points, IMF is not part of our manifesto,” said Senator Taj Haider, a senior PPP figure, when asked if his party had assessed repercussions of its opposition to the government’s privatization move.
“Those who are the slaves of the IMF should be worried. We must stand on our own feet and not look toward the outsiders.”
The PPP, whose co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is currently serving as the president of Pakistan, has formed a three-member committee to engage with the government on privatization issues.
Haider said his party had already offered the government to hand over the Pakistan Steel Mills to the Sindh government which had the capacity to run it, while the PIA should be run through public-private partnership (PPP).
“Government entities, including the PIA and the Steel Mills, should not be privatized because they will sell their valuable properties and won’t make them sustainable like we have witnessed in the past,” he said.
“No privatization has been successful, and no public-private partnership (PPP) has been unsuccessful.”
In the past, Haider said, privatization drives remained unsuccessful because the process had only been aimed at selling state properties.
“The PIA’s problem is an outcome of mismanagement,” he said. “If other airlines are making profit, then why PIA cannot do it.”
Speaking at a conference in Islamabad on Monday, Finance Minister Aurangzeb outlined reforms under a new IMF deal, saying the government had to broaden its tax base and increase the tax-to-GDP ratio.
“And the third one is the SOE [state-owned enterprises] reform,” Aurangzeb said. “Our prime minister has been very clear that the government has no business being in business … We need to and we will accelerate the privatization agenda.”
Hidayatullah Khan, president of a union of PIA employees, lamented that private airlines had been given several domestic routes of the PIA, while the aircraft of the national airline were left standing.
“If PIA is not making profit, it’s an issue of the management, whose policies have destroyed the airline,” Khan said, adding the airline employees would stage protests in Karachi and Islamabad to stop the privatization of the airline.
Ali Khizar, an Islamabad-based financial and development consultant, said the privatization of the PIA was not the “primary concern” of the IMF.
“IMF has advocated for the privatization, including that of PIA, for quite some time, but its primary concerns are increasing taxation and reducing duplicated expenditures,” Khizar told Arab News.
“While privatization won’t greatly affect talks with the IMF, I believe PIA should indeed be privatized.”
Last week, Pakistan pushed back the deadline for companies to express interest in buying PIA to May 18, a day before the expressions had originally been due. The privatization commission says 10 companies have already expressed an interest.
Pakistan’s government has previously said it was putting on the block a stake of between 51 percent and 100 percent in the loss-making airline.
The disposal of the flag carrier is a step that past elected governments have steered away from as it is likely to be highly unpopular, but progress on privatization is key to helping cash-strapped Pakistan pursue further funding talks with the IMF.
