KARACHI: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Friday hinted at the export of locally produced electric fans with new and improved technology to Gulf and African countries, saying it could potentially boost the country’s export economy.
Pakistan’s fan industry is primarily concentrated in the Punjab cities of Gujranwala and Gujrat, both of which play a key role in domestic production through numerous small and medium enterprises. The country’s leading brands in the sector are all based in these two urban centers, supplying products nationwide.
The finance minister’s statement comes as Pakistan looks to diversify its export base and reduce reliance on traditional sectors like textiles. With energy-efficient appliances such as fans in growing demand globally, particularly in warmer regions like the Gulf and Africa, the government is exploring ways to modernize local manufacturing and align with international standards to reinvigorate industrial output and foreign exchange earnings.
“We are looking forward for these products to not only be used in Pakistan but also have a very good market share in the exports market going forward,” Aurangzeb said while speaking on the sidelines of the “Made in Gujranwala Exhibition” at a local hotel in Islamabad.
“Our efforts now should be to take it to the exports level if we have this much productivity and it is internationally competitiveness as well,” he continued, adding it was important to figure out “how we have to take this initiative ahead to move old fans and the new technology forward.”
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan’s exports rose by 11 percent to $30.7 billion in the last fiscal year ending June 2024. As of March this year, the country has exported $24.7 billion worth of goods, marking an eight percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
Aurangzeb said African and Gulf markets were ideal for the export of Pakistani products.
“We have to move toward an export-led growth,” he noted, assuring businesses of the full support of the finance ministry. “Every single sector in this country has to export.”
The government is working to revive Pakistan’s economy with the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF’s executive board is expected to approve a $1 billion tranche for Pakistan under its new loan program in the coming weeks.
Pakistan eyes fan exports to Gulf, Africa in push to boost economy
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Pakistan eyes fan exports to Gulf, Africa in push to boost economy
- Muhammad Aurangzeb calls for enhanced productivity to compete in global markets
- Pakistan’s exports rose 8 percent to $24.7 billion in the current fiscal year through March
New PIA owner plans more GCC flights, lower airfares
- New management will focus on religious tourism to Makkah, Madinah and other sites to expand global reach
- Owner Arif Habib says airfares will be rationalized to make PIA flights affordable for low-income Pakistanis
KARACHI: Pakistan’s recently privatized national carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), plans to increase its flights to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region as part of its post-privatization business strategy to achieve 7.5% annual revenue growth, its new owner said this week.
A Pakistani consortium, led by Arif Habib Group, clinched a 75% stake in PIA for Rs135 billion ($482 million) on Dec. 23 after a competitive bidding process, in a deal that valued the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million).
The sale marked Pakistan’s most ambitious effort in decades to reform the debt-ridden airline that had accumulated over Rs784 billion ($2.8 billion) in losses. The government said it aimed to end decades of state-funded bailouts and support the airline’s revival.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Arif Habib, chairman of Arif Habib Group, shared that he aims to attract around 70 million Pakistanis, who travel annually via different airlines, by making airfares more affordable.
“That [GCC region] is our biggest market... We would definitely try to increase the frequency of flights, increase the number of planes there, and try to capture more market share in that area,” Habib told Arab News on Monday.
“So, there we see a lot of opportunity.”
The new management of PIA, which currently caters to 4 million passengers annually, aims to target religious tourism, which Habib called a “captive market” in Pakistan and the Middle East.
According to PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the airline runs around 20 flights daily to the Middle East.
Habib plans to invest around Rs112 billion ($400 million) in PIA to turn the airline around, implementing short- and long-term improvements ranging from upgrading seats to tripling the 19-aircraft fleet, and engaging a foreign airline as a technical partner through strategic divestment over the next seven to eight years.
The group also intends to reduce PIA fares to make air travel more affordable for passengers from Pakistan’s low-income groups.
“Yes, we have been advised that in order to increase our market share, we will have to rationalize the airfares,” Habib said. “That is in the plan, and we will unfold it as it comes.”
The new owners have engaged a global advisory firm, Seabury Aviation Partners, to identify viable markets for the newly privatized airline and expand its presence both locally and internationally.
Habib aims for up to 7.5% annual growth in PIA’s operational revenues to make it profitable and the new management is targeting European and North American markets, particularly routes to and from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, for this purpose.
“The UK is the most lucrative market where I think there is a lot of demand,” he said, adding they would also be seeking more flight destinations. “Even for USA there is demand there.”
Habib, however, said the airline would take time to deliver “reasonable” returns to its investors, including AKD Group Holdings, Fatima Fertilizer Company, City Schools, Lake City Holdings and Fauji Fertilizer Company, a publicly listed firm owned by Pakistan’s military.
“In initial period of one to two years, we may see some losses but into medium term, I think, that would be turned around,” he concluded.
PIA posted a pre-tax profit of Rs11.5 billion ($41 million) for the January–June 2025 period, its first such profit for this timeframe in nearly two decades, according to a Reuters report in September. The airline recorded losses during the same period in 2024.
Once considered one of Asia’s leading carriers, PIA struggled with chronic mismanagement, political interference, overstaffing, mounting debt, and operational issues that led to a 2020 ban on flights to the European Union, the UK, and the US following a pilot licensing scandal. The EU and UK have since lifted their bans, giving the airline renewed momentum, while the US ban remains in place.
On Tuesday, PIA announced that the airline will be expanding its UK operations and will operate four weekly flights from Islamabad to London starting Mar. 29.
“The flights are being resumed after a long gap of six years,” PIA spokesman Khan said in a statement. “PIA is already operating three weekly flights to Manchester.”
