Pakistani News for the Rest of Us

Pakistani modern art market is soaring, thanks to recent boom in economic activity, rising incomes, investor interest and a line-up of upcoming artists - plus increasing corporate and Arab patronage. Pakistan’s art market has gone crazy over the past year, with prices multiplying 10 to 20 times over. And famous artists are not the only …

Swiss dairy giant Nestle has made Pakistan the home of world’s largest ever milk production plant. The 2 million-litre-a-day Punjab-based milk processing facility will rise to over three million liters in coming years. Pakistan is the world’s fourth-largest milk producer, and Asia’s second-largest, behind India, so the location of Nestlé’s latest investment is fitting. …

The Karachi Stock Exchange recorded a new all-time high amidst growing hopes among investors to pump more money into Pakistan after reportedly successful elections. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange index of 100 shares rose around 1 percent or 142 points to close at 14,972 points, a new all-time high, on the back of growing political …

Recent events have not dampened Pakistan’s continued banking and financial sector expansion. The latest development follows a spate of purchases by overseas banks looking to expand in Pakistan. In the latest deal, Saudi Pak Commercial Bank (SPCB) is due to be bought in a $200m deal. Standard Chartered in 2006 became the first international bank …

U.S. based Aerion announced its first customer, Pakistan-based Princely Jets, after opening its order book at the Dubai Airshow. The futuristic supersonic business jet appears to be gaining altitude, with its US manufacturer saying it has letters of intent worth $US1.5 billion from customers interested in its $US80 million plane. The supersonic jet, capable …

Recently I had an opportunity to visit Pakistan on business and I grabbed this opportunity to visit Mohenjodaro. I had planned to visit Mohenjodaro on the third day along with one of our local associates. My first destination in Pakistan was Karachi which I found to be quite a pleasant city. I was treated …

“Why shouldn’t I keep a mobile phone when I can have it for less than 200 rupees ($3.5) a month,” said Mohammad Akram while tending to his vegetable stall on the roadside of a middle-class Karachi neighborhood. Thanks to Pakistanis’ rising incomes, which have doubled to over $800 per annum in the last six years, …

Cayman S will be the first in a series of new Porsche models to hit the Pakistani roads. Furthermore, a new Porsche showroom will open in Karachi in May 2006 while the Service Centre has already been operational there since January 2006. Although sales and service activities have already started, the official launch ceremonies were …

The products imported from National Foods of Karachi (NFK) by Quantum Foods of Panipat in Haryana have become a craze with Kashmiris for their high quality. The products from the neighbouring country are already flooding the markets here and are much in demand. Several shopkeepers across the Kashmir Valley were doing brisk business selling Pakistani …

The UN Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific said that the country’s GDP growth of 8.4 percent in 2005 was the highest in the last two decades due to continuity of economic policies, a robust financial sector and strong domestic demand. A United Nations economic survey released in Islamabad Thursday said that …

The country offers huge oil and gas potential and vast relatively unexplored acreage, with historical success ratio of 1:3.4. “The major portion of hydrocarbons is untapped,” says a JS Capital Markets report on “Pakistan’s gas reserves and gas fields” released on Wednesday. Based on 2004 data of remaining recoverable reserves, Pakistan with gas reserves of …

The proof is in the numbers. Last year the country’s GDP growth rate hit 8.4 percent, the world’s second highest behind China, following two years of solid 6 percent growth. It’s a heady turnaround for a nation that, in the late 1990s, was practically a failed state with near-zero GDP growth. Because of its headlong …

Moody’s raised its outlook on Pakistan’s sovereign B2 foreign currency debt rating, which is five rungs below investment grade and the same as Indonesia’s, from “stable.” Pakistan’s $100 billion economy is forecast to expand 7 percent in the year to June 30 after growing 8.4 percent in the previous 12 months, the fastest pace in …

Visa Facilitation Desks have opened at Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar airports. To obtain a visa valid for up to 30 days, business visitors have to show either a letter from their national Chamber of Commerce, an invitation letter from a business organization recommended by the appropriate trade organisation in Pakistan or a letter …