ISLAMABAD: With Saudi Arabia’s national flag draped around his shoulders, Shah Murad arrived in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad to achieve his “lifelong dream”: watch Saudi Arabia’s national football team in action.
Murad, a 33-year-old tea boy at a private bank in Pakistan’s financial hub Karachi, resides in the city’s teeming Lyari neighborhood. The slum has long been considered one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods due to frequent gang-related killings and rampant street crimes there.
It’s also known as “Mini-Brazil” and Pakistan’s football capital for producing immense talent for the sport. While its residents support different teams, a majority of them cheer for top football-playing nations like Germany, Brazil and Argentina.
Pakistan will face Saudi Arabia today at the Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad. The two sides will lock horns for round 2 of the FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. Pakistan lost the first round against Saudi Arabia in Al Ahsa in November 2023 when the Green Falcons vanquished Pakistan 4-0.
What makes Murad’s 890-mile journey from Karachi to Islamabad remarkable is the recent tragedy that befell him days before he decided to travel to Islamabad, a city he had never traveled to before. The superfan, a father of one, had been planning to travel to Islamabad for the match for the last six months. A few days earlier, his wife delivered a premature baby, their second child, who was put on a ventilator due to health complications.
“But before I could commence on my journey to fulfill my dream, I lost my son,” Murad told Arab News. “It hasn’t [even] been a week.”
Murad had abandoned his plan to leave Karachi but his family told him to pursue his dream of watching the Saudi football team live in action.
“My family encouraged me and said that it has been my lifelong dream,” Murad said. “You should go fulfill it.”
And his family’s encouragement was enough to motivate Murad to buy a Rs12,400 [$44.52] return bus ticket.
“I had been saving this money for a long time,” he explained.
In November 2022, when Saudi Arabia upset Argentina in the FIFA World Cup 2022, Arab News spoke to Murad who said Saudi star Yasser Al-Qahtan was his favorite footballer.
When asked if he had any other wishes, Murad said he wanted to meet Saudi Arabia’s men’s football team now that he was in Islamabad.
However, he does feel slightly conflicted about who to support, now that his favorite team will be facing his country on the field.
“I want the Saudi team to win because it is my favorite football team,” Murad said. “But Pakistan is my country, so I am a bit confused.
“Whoever wins in the end, I hope it will be a victory for sports.”
Pakistani superfan travels 890 miles to catch Saudi football team live in Islamabad
Pakistani superfan travels 890 miles to catch Saudi football team live in Islamabad
- Shah Murad, a 33-year-old resident of Pakistan’s Karachi, considers Saudi Arabia his “favorite” football team
- Days before Murad departed for Islamabad, his premature baby passed away due to health complications
Pakistan to showcase BYD, Samsung, Google assembly push at ITCN Asia expo
- STZA pavilion backed by SIFC highlights shift from tech services to manufacturing
- Electric vehicles, electronics and data centers featured at Lahore exhibition
KARACHI: Pakistan will showcase electric vehicle and electronics assembly by global brands including BYD, Samsung and Google at ITCN Asia 2026, its largest tech expo, as the government seeks to signal a shift from technology consumption toward local manufacturing under its investment-led growth strategy.
The display will take place through a flagship national pavilion led by the Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) at the three-day ITCN Asia exhibition beginning Jan. 17 at the Lahore Expo Center, with facilitation from the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), according to a statement issued on Thursday by the cabinet division.
The move comes as Pakistan pushes to deepen industrial capacity and attract long-term foreign investment amid pressure to boost exports and reduce reliance on external financing. While Pakistan has traditionally positioned itself as a provider of IT services and outsourcing, officials have increasingly emphasized localized production in sectors such as electric vehicles, electronics, cloud infrastructure and data centers.
According to the statement, the STZA pavilion will be organized around three themes: “Manufactured in Pakistan,” “Powered by Pakistan,” and “Pakistan as a Tech Destination,” highlighting the country’s effort to integrate technology with manufacturing and physical infrastructure.
“Manufactured in Pakistan [is] a clear demonstration of Pakistan’s shift from technology consumption to localized production, featuring global brands manufacturing and assembling within STZA-notified zones for domestic and international Markets,” the press release by STZA said.
“Exhibits include BYD Electric Vehicles, Google Chromebook Assembly through NRTC, and Samsung Electronics through Sapphire Group, underscoring Pakistan’s growing role in global manufacturing value chains.”
The digital infrastructure segment will showcase investments in data centers and computing capacity, with participation from firms including Multinet, a Pakistani telecom and data services provider, and Sky47, a local data center and cloud infrastructure operator, focusing on cloud services, connectivity and enterprise-grade digital platforms.
A third segment will highlight investment-ready technology zones, including Tech7 STZ and Winston STZ, privately developed Special Technology Zones that are building large-scale facilities such as offices, data centers and industrial space to support technology firms seeking to expand domestically and internationally.
STZA said it has notified 32 Special Technology Zones nationwide since its inception, hosting more than 250 technology enterprises and around 27,000 professionals across sectors including artificial intelligence, fintech, cloud computing, agritech, business process outsourcing and high-tech manufacturing such as drones, electronics and electric vehicles.
Under existing policy, technology firms operating within notified zones are eligible for income tax, customs duty and foreign exchange incentives until June 30, 2035, the statement said.
ITCN Asia is one of Pakistan’s largest annual technology exhibitions, drawing local and foreign investors, industry leaders and policymakers, and is being used this year to project Pakistan’s readiness for technology-driven manufacturing and infrastructure development.
