With a population of around 200 million individuals, Pakistan has the potential to become next major Internet market in terms of number of connected people in the next coming few years. According to one estimate, 9 percent of the country’s population goes online during last year while another 30 percent are likely to get connected to Internet in next three to five years. The trend to use Internet has …

  Gwadar free port project promises massive investment, greater generation of employment opportunities and more development projects in different sectors of Balochistan. An addition of a new deep-sea port at Pakistan’s coastline marks a new chapter of development efforts in the country. It would serve as a springboard for initiating wide-ranging development activities in Balochistan. The port is bound to usher in the province a new era of progress and …

  Confidence between locals with foreign investors needs to be maintained The political leaders and local people have been expressing their serious reservations since the mega seaport project was launched at Gwadar in March 2002. Whereas the local people have attached great expectations from the development of Gwadar port, they also have serious reservations about the fast-track development process in the port city. In the past, Balochistan has witnessed insurgencies …

  Certainly, it is not the business of the state to do business. It is the private sector, which has to run the businesses under the patronage and facilitation of the government. The government should only play the role of regulator and facilitator of corporate businesses. Since 1990, the country sold off 167 SOEs. During 1997-2000, the complete denationalization of the banking sector was carried out. A privatization program was …

  Smartphones trade reached peak and set to grow further Pakistan with a market of about 200 million people continues to allure foreign firms to invest in the country’s telecom market, which has the footmarks of strategic investors such as Orascom, Etisalat, Telenor, Abu Dhabi Group’s Warid Telecom and Canada’s Nortel Networks and China’s telecom giants — ZTE Corporation and China Mobile. Pakistan has the highest mobile penetration rate in …

  With the current growing pace of telecommunication, the telecom sector of our country has witnessed a spectacular growth in the recent past. This advancement and growth in the sector is also having positive impact on the underdeveloped economy and most backward society of Balochistan, which despite least developed province of the country, enjoying satisfactory growth level of telecom consumers and the quality of telecom services provided to them are …

  The absence of infrastructure is the single most important reason that discourages investment in the industrial sector development in Balochistan. It is the most backward province, which is also far behind from other provinces in road sector development. The province has a road network comprising about 25,099 kilometers, which is less than that of the other provinces. The existing road network in Balochistan is in a dire need of …

  Following its ninth review of the program, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked Pakistan to focus on accelerating steps to widen the tax net and raise funds for more infrastructure investment and social assistance after the country failed to reach its fiscal deficit and tax revenue targets under an IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF). However, the IMF welcomed the government’s plans to take action to attain the budget deficit …

  Insurance business generally grows on risk perception in a society. Larger the risk level, higher the growth of insurance industry. The risk perception — risks to life, assets and public and private properties — has been higher and widely prevalent in Balochistan where the incidents of target killings and attacks on public and private properties have witnessed a phenomenal growth over the past five years. The reason is the …

  Immediate incentives, policy change can revive the exports of Pakistan Pakistan’s share in global textile trade dropped from 2.2 to 1.8 percent during last five years and the share may further reduced to 1.5 percent by 2020 if the sector was not made competitive in the region in respect of power supply, reducing cost of doing business and giving relief in taxes. Pakistan as compare with other states in …