KARACHI: A two-member Canadian team on Monday began its aviation security assessment at Jinnah International Airport in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) said.
The team comprises inspectors, Barbara Durette and Abdel Tahir, from Transport Canada — a Canadian government entity responsible for policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation.
It held a meeting with Pakistani officials at the PCAA headquarters. The four-day assessment will focus on aviation security documentation, airport arrangements, catering and cargo complexes.
“The team will be inspecting implementation of various aviation security protocols at the airport and implementation of special security measures being undertaken by PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) for direct flights to Canada,” the PCAA said in a statement.
It said the assessment is a continuation of collaborative efforts between Transport Canada and the PCAA to enhance aviation security standards in the South Asian country.
This is the 5th international evaluation of Pakistan’s aviation security system in recent months. The PCAA earlier said it had successfully passed all previous inspections, including an inaugural assessment by the United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (UAE-GCAA) of Islamabad and Karachi airports that concluded on July 5.
Pakistan’s aviation protocols have faced significant scrutiny since 2020 following a scandal wherein approximately 262 out of 860 active pilots were said to have obtained fake licenses, leading to the grounding of around 150 pilots from the PIA and other carriers.
This revelation came in the wake of the tragic crash of PIA flight 8303 in Karachi, resulting in the suspension of PIA’s operations in the European Union (EU) and other regions and prompting calls for regulatory reforms to improve safety standards and transparency.
Two-member Canadian team begins aviation security assessment at Karachi airport
https://arab.news/vq5eg
Two-member Canadian team begins aviation security assessment at Karachi airport
- This is the fifth international evaluation of Pakistan’s aviation security system in recent months
- Pakistan’s aviation protocols have faced significant scrutiny since a 2020 fake pilot license scandal
Pakistan finance chief says country leveraging AI to boost tax compliance, revenu
- Aurangzeb says AI-driven systems are cutting leakages, discretionary intervention in tax administration
- He tells a national workshop the government must focus on applied AI, not technology for its own sake
KARACHI: Pakistan is deploying artificial intelligence-driven systems to strengthen tax compliance and enforcement as part of a broader reform push, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday, adding the country must focus on applied AI solutions.
He was speaking during a panel discussion at the National Artificial Intelligence Workshop in the capital, as Pakistan undertakes sweeping fiscal and structural reforms under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund loan program aimed at stabilizing the economy and boosting revenue collection.
The government has pledged to widen the tax base, curb leakages and digitize administration, with technology playing a central role in its tax transformation agenda.
“AI-enabled systems are playing an increasingly important role in strengthening compliance, enforcement, and decision-making,” Aurangzeb said, according to a statement released by the finance division.
“The Government’s ongoing tax transformation, anchored in reforms to people, processes, and technology, is leveraging AI-led CRM [Customer Relationship Management] systems, AI-led production monitoring, risk-based compliance tools, and faceless customer processes to enhance transparency, reduce leakages, and improve revenue outcomes,” he added.
The finance minister said the focus for a country like Pakistan must remain on applied AI solutions that deliver measurable gains in efficiency, transparency and productivity, rather than on adopting technology for its own sake.
Reducing discretionary human intervention through technology was central to curbing inefficiencies and corruption, he said, adding that AI-led systems had generated tangible fiscal gains that would not have been achievable through manual processes alone.
Aurangzeb said investing in human capital and skills development was essential to enable Pakistan’s youth to participate in higher-value segments of the global technology ecosystem, noting that technologies such as blockchain and data analytics could support productivity-led growth.
He maintained artificial intelligence offered opportunities in revenue mobilization, public service delivery and climate and population management, adding that realizing those gains would require clear policy direction, institutional readiness and a coordinated, whole-of-government approach.
