Prominent Pakistani food manufacturer announces setting up UAE subsidiary

This undated file photograph shows Ismail Industries Limited, a prominent food manufacturer and exporter in Pakistan, building in Karachi. (Photo courtesy: Ismail Industries Limited)
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Updated 30 June 2024
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Prominent Pakistani food manufacturer announces setting up UAE subsidiary

  • Ismail Industries produces a diverse range of confectionery, biscuits, chips, flour 
  • It includes Bisconni, the biscuit company, and popular candy maker Candyland

KARACHI: Ismail Industries Limited, a prominent food manufacturer and exporter in Pakistan, announced this week it would set up a subsidiary in Abu Dhabi after seeking the necessary regulatory approvals.
Pakistani businesses and industries have been grappling for years with chronic issues like the shortage of electricity, gas and water. A deteriorating law and order situation in most parts of the country and particularly the commercial hub, Karachi, is also fueling uncertainty for businesses. Major trade bodies have also rejected the new tax heavy finance bill for the coming fiscal year amid an annual inflation projection of up to 13.5 percent for June. The budget comes into effect on Monday.
“The Board of Directors (BoD) has resolved to establish/set-up a wholly owned subsidiary of the company in Abu Dhabi, UAE,” Ismail Industries said in a notice issued to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday, informing its shareholders that the subsidiary would manufacture, market, sell, and distribute all kinds of food, including biscuits and confectionery.
“The company will accordingly seek all necessary regulatory approvals and proceed with the incorporation process once the same has been obtained.”
Ismail Industries produces a diverse range of confectionery, biscuits, chips, flour, packaging and other items. It includes Bisconni, which offers an extensive range of premium biscuits and cookies, and Candyland, which was set up in 1998 and makes a wide array of candies, chocolates, jellies and bubble gums.
Ismail Industries is ISO 22000 certified, a standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization dealing with food safety. It is also certified by SANHA (South African National Halal Authority), a leading authority in the certification for Halal products around the world.


Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six

Updated 24 January 2026
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Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six

  • Attack targeted members of local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan
  • Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces

PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan rose to six, police said on Saturday, after funeral prayers were held for those killed in the attack a day earlier.

The bomber detonated explosives during a wedding gathering in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring more than a dozen, some of them critically.

“The death toll has surged to six,” said Nawab Khan, Superintendent of Police for Saddar Dera Ismail Khan. “Police have completed the formalities and registered the case against unidentified attackers.”

“It was a suicide attack and the Counter Terrorism Department will further investigate the case,” he continued, adding that security had been stepped up across the district to prevent further incidents.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.

Khan cautioned against speculation, citing ongoing militancy in the area, and said the investigation was being treated with “utmost seriousness.”

The explosion targeted the home of a member of a local peace committee, which is part of community-based groups that cooperate with security forces and whose members have frequently been targeted by militants in the past.

Some media reports also cited a death toll of seven, quoting police authorities.

Emergency officials said several of the wounded were taken to hospital soon after the blast.

Militant attacks have intensified in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of “facilitating” cross-border assaults, a charge Kabul denies.