Business - 23

Expectations of a record cotton crop in Pakistan have lifted prospects for the country’s textile sector, just as it faces the challenge of the global quota-free trade regime that came in to effect last month.Pakistan is expected to produce at least 13.7m bales (of 375lbs each) in the year ending June, up from a target [...]

Unless you’ve been completely disconnected with the global economy, you’re most probably picturing young Indian college graduates, in a large facility sitting in front of state-of-the art flat-panel computer screens with phone headsets on. You’re probably hearing the buzz of these professionals speaking in English, servicing customers halfway across the world. Well, you may want [...]

Moved by the plight of slum-dwelling weavers, most of them women, in Mohammed Zakir’s hometown of Karachi in Pakistan, the Zakirs have started a small business, Silk Route Crafts, to import the workers’ fabrics and fabric goods. The hope is to sell enough to Americans to send a decent wage to the workers, who Mohammed [...]

THEY call Yasin Lakhani, chairman of Karachi’s stock exchange, the ‘incorrigible bull’. And last Thursday he was in full charge when the index closed at a record 7,014. Lakhani is not the only bull in Pakistan’s commercial capital. A new wealthy middle class has been created in the five years since General Pervez Musharraf took [...]

Dubai-based Al Futtaim Technologies has established a wholly owned subsidiary in Pakistan. The move will see the local firm representing French telecom major Alcatel‘s enterprise communication systems – something it has been doing in the UAE for some time now. “The intention now is to replicate the success we have had in the UAE with [...]

Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO) said Friday it will enter the Pakistani market in late February with the release of four models, Kyodo News reported.The models to be offered are the Sunny subcompact sedan, the Cefiro luxury sedan, which is called the Teana in Japan, the Patrol off-roader vehicle, known as the Safari in Japan, and [...]

Alliance Francaise de Lahore (French cultural center) and the Annemarie Schimmel Haus (German cultural center) were jointly inaugurated at their common site, Scotch Corner at Upper Mall, on Friday. The launch was followed by performances by a German jazz band and French opera singer. The move to localise the two centres is an effort by [...]

The Ufone on Friday announced Rs 2 reduction in its outgoing calls and Ps 50 cut in the short message service (SMS) from February 5. He said only Rs 1.5 on outgoing calls would be charged after 10pm onwards. In addition, the Ufone prepaid customers would benefit from the lowest SMS rates as every SMS [...]

A South African company will buy five Mushshak trainer aircraft from the state-run aviation firm Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Online news agency reported. Following a deal between Uni Group Holdings and PAC, inspectors from the South African Civil Aviation Authority visited Pakistan in October to satisfy themselves about the quality and standard of the aircraft. [...]

The government of the province of Sindh in Pakistan has embarked on a programme to install windmills along the coastal belt that will help generate power to meet 30 per cent of the domestic consumption of the province. Work on the project is expected to commence after six months and the windmills at the initial [...]