World

IMF shares prerequisites list asking implementation in two to three weeks, which could pave way for releasing of a $1 billion tranche besides a grant of Rs. 340 billion adjuster because of floods By Ghulam Haider The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has handed over Pakistan a list of to-do list them in the next three weeks if they want to revive the stalled loan programme of $1 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which is expected to provide a much-needed breather to the sagging economy. Telling Islamabad that that the time has come to take “all required actions,” the IMF has given Pakistani authorities a timeframe of two to three weeks for implementing all required actions, which will pave the way for a staff-lev...

December 27, 2022 at 3:16 pm | Economic Affairs

By Ghulam HaiderThe Council General of the United Arab Emirates has quashed the rumors that authorities in the UAE have restricted visit visas for Pakistanis belonging to some specific cities.The Consul General of the United Arab Emirates in Karachi H.E Bakheet Ateeq Al Romaithi has said that there is no truth that visit visas are being denied to people from specific cities of origin in Pakistan.'No ban has been imposed on Pakistani citizens and visas are being issued indiscriminately,' he told a private television channel, and added that he himself was issuing visas to people belonging to different cities.He expressed dismay over the news and stated that he was unaware of who was behind this disinformation campaign.However, immigration of...

December 27, 2022 at 3:14 pm | Economic Affairs

Waqar Malik CEO - FAUJI FOUNDATION The Economic Affairs feels honoured to talk to Mr. Waqar Malik, who sheds light on the unparalleled role of the Pakistan Army-run institutions in the social-economic development of the country. Following is the transcript of the interview; The Economic Affairs: Sir, would you like to share the success story of Fauji Foundation since it was founded in 1954, and highlight achievements of its subsidiary companies as well. Waqar Malik: Fauji Foundation (FF or “The Foundation”) is a charitable trust founded in 1954 and incorporated under The Charitable Endowment Act 1890. The raison d'etre of Foundation is “Earn to Serve”. The Foundation operates as a Hybrid Social Enterprise, where its ...

November 30, 2022 at 10:42 am | Economic Affairs

28 November 2022 Islamabad(PR) The Ambassador of Indonesia Mr. Adam M. Tugio emphasized the need to accelerate collaborative efforts among the OIC countries for the development of Traditional Herbal Medicine (THM) in the wake of growing popularity of natural remedy methods and global awareness to protect environment for ensuring ‘Greener Future’. Addressing an “International Seminar on Herbal and Traditional Medicine: A Sustainable Alternate for the Greener Future” organized by the Embassy of Indonesia Islamabad and COMSTECH Islamabad, the Ambassador said that THM offer tremendous economic opportunities and innovation for the OIC countries since more than 80% people in developing countries and around 10 to 50% people living in t...

November 28, 2022 at 4:40 pm | Economic Affairs

Beijing says its anti-terrorism and "de-radicalization efforts" in the region are carried out in accordance with the "rule of law" and by no means "repressing ethnic minorities" In the recent period, Western society's attention to China's human rights issues has become increasingly "hot", especially for the groundless accusations of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which have become a "hyped" public opinion in the Western media. In response to the so-called "conclusion" reached in the Human Rights Report on China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on September 1, 2022, citing "serious human rights violations" against Uighurs and "other mainly Mus...

October 17, 2022 at 5:22 pm | Economic Affairs

EA Report LAHORE, Sept. 04–22 Pakistan's rupee maintained its strength against the US dollar by staying up near 0.9 percent in inter-bank market during opening trading hours on Tuesday.Pak rupee was being quoted at 225.30 with an appreciation of Rs1.99 or 0.88 percent against the greenback, during intra-day trading right at around 10:35amPakistan's rupee, last day, had maintained its upward trajectory against US dollar for the seventh straight session, closing at 227.29 appreciating to Rs1.16 or 0.51% in the inter-bank market.Analysts attribute rupee's recent gain to the return of Ishaq Dar, widely seen as an advocate of a strong rupee.The newly-appointed finance minister on Monday clearly said that the country’s currency could s...

October 4, 2022 at 3:48 pm | Economic Affairs

On 1st April 2022, the 2022 Presidents’ Forum of Hubei-South Asian Universities & The 2nd Meeting of South Asian-Hubei Universities Alliance was held online and offline at Yichang, Hubei province China hosted by the Hubei provincial department of education and hosted by the three gorges university. The Theme of the conference was Cooperation and Exchange between Universities in Hubei and South Asia in the Post-epidemic Era: Opportunities, Challenges and Countermeasures. Yu xuemin, Deputy director of Hubei provincial education department, Zhang Jin'an, Vice mayor of Yichang Municipal People's Government, Wang Junchang, General manager of Yunnan Nadebei hydropower development Co., Ltd., and 70 representatives of 11 Chinese Universities...

April 4, 2022 at 9:55 am | Economic Affairs

Interview by S. A. Chaudhry and Ali Hussain The Economic Affairs: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations. Since its establishment in 1969, the OIC has played an important role to advocate the Islamic cause around the world. How do you assess the historic role of the Organization? Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia H.E. Nawaf Saeed Al Malkiy: The OIC is the second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations, with 57 member states and covering four continents. It is the collective voice of the Muslim world to ensure and protect their interests in the economic, social and political spheres. In addition, it has institution...

March 22, 2022 at 9:53 am | Economic Affairs

Interview by S. A. Chaudhry and Ali Hussain The Economic Affairs: The OIC is the largest intergovernmental organization after the UN. Since its establishment in 1969, the OIC has played an important role to advocate Islamic causes around the world. How do you assess this historic role of the Organization? H.E. Mustafa Yurdakul, Turkish Ambassador: The OIC was established in the aftermath of the arson of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is the third holy shrine of Muslims located in Al-Quds. Liberation of Palestine and Al-Quds has been the main cause of the organization. However, OIC's reason for being is not limited to this cause. Strengthening the bond of unity and solidarity among member states, uplifting Islamic values, protecting ...

March 22, 2022 at 9:44 am | Economic Affairs

Interview by S. A. Chaudhry and Ali Hussain The Economic Affairs: The OIC is the largest intergovernmental organization after the UN. Since its establishment in 1969, the OIC has played an important role to advocate Islamic cause around the world. How do you assess this historic role of the Organization? High Commissioner of Nigeria H.E. Mohammed Bello Abioye: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation is an International Organization founded in Rabat, Morocco in 1969. It consists of 57 member states, with collective population of over 1.8 billion. Today, the OIC is the second largest intergovernmental organization after the UN and the historic role of the organization has been well established in the areas of preserving Islamic, ...

March 22, 2022 at 9:39 am | Economic Affairs

By Dr. Hassan Daud Butt Govt is especially focusing on development of integrated tourism zones and infrastructure, particularly roads connectivity, motorways and highways to augment sector. Tourism is an organized, regular and multidimensional business activity, which has grown to the level of industry of worldwide importance. Tourism activities contribute towards economic growth and are internationally regarded as a vehicle for generating employment. Tourism has also been identified as a source of regional integration and balanced regional development that can contribute towards increased people-to-people interaction, improved trade and economic cooperation and linkages for the mutual benefit of economies. The economic be...

March 22, 2022 at 7:52 am | Economic Affairs

By Javed Hafeez Palestinian issue has been on the UN agenda for decades and remains unresolved to date. The historic land of Palestine, which has the unique distinction of being revered by the followers of three revealed religions, has been reduced to a zone of perpetual conflict. This is a great paradox of our times as these three religions had brought divine messages for love of humanity, peace and amity. Those divine messages have been violated with impunity, setting a wrong example for conduct of international relations. The Palestinian population has faced expulsion, occupation, unfulfilled pledges and dashed hopes. A large number of Palestinians continue to live in refugee camps, some of them in appalling conditions. The Pal...

March 22, 2022 at 7:41 am | Economic Affairs

By Salman Bashir At the critical and defining juncture the OIC has, once again, stepped in to lead the way for assisting, defining and influencing global opinion in favor of the Afghanistan and her people. On the joint initiative of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, an extraordinary session of the Foreign Ministers of OIC states was held in Islamabad on 19 December 2021 to mobilize global assistance to mitigate the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.  Besides the 57 member states, the Conference was attended by the representatives of the United Nations Secretary General, China, the U.S., the U.K., France, Russian Federation, Japan, Germany, Italy, European Union, Economic Cooperation Organization, League of Arab States, and the Gulf...

March 22, 2022 at 7:32 am | Economic Affairs

By Masood Khalid The growing assymetary in conventional strength of Pakistan & India, with Kashmir issue simmering in the backdrop, is a potential for a bigger conflict in the South Asia. Kashmir has been a source of at least three full-fledged wars between India and Pakistan and today it is a ticking bomb in nuclearized South Asia. When India and Pakistan became independent countries in 1947, there were over 500 princely states constituting the British Empire. The partition plan envisaged that the princely states will either join India or Pakistan, taking geographical, religious, cultural factors into account. By that token, Muslim majority Kashmir should have joined Pakistan. History, however, bears witness to the fact that ...

March 22, 2022 at 7:14 am | Economic Affairs

By Tehmina Janjua Causes of Islamophobia are complex and differ in various countries and regions. In the West, the roots of Islamophobia lie in an often contentious history between Christianity and Islam, which was aggravated by the colonial experience. Islamophobia is an existential issue for Muslim countries. Discrimination, hate speech and outright incitement to violence against Muslims have become entrenched and pervasive in many societies. This poses a direct threat to the Islamic identity of communities, and to the physical security and lives of Muslims. Islamophobia has become a matter of life and death for a large number of our co-religionists. The OIC has adopted a working definition of Islamophobia as a “contem...

March 22, 2022 at 7:06 am | Economic Affairs

By Zafar Mirza On economic loss, one credible estimate put the cost to the global economy at $82 trillion over five years due to the global pandemic. The devastating effect of the global pandemic due to SARS-CoV-2 on human health and national economies will be felt for decades to come. Everybody on earth has been directly or indirectly affected, close to 437 million tested positive (we would never know the real number which would run into billions) and nearly 6 million could not survive the severity of the disease and passed away. On economic loss, one credible estimate put the cost to the global economy at $82 trillion over five years. Though it can never be said with certainty but hopefully after the omicron-wave the wor...

March 22, 2022 at 6:57 am | Economic Affairs