Author: i2wtc
Appreciating Pakistan’s hospitality, the envoys agreed on the need to accelerate bilateral trade and investment flows, including through religious tourism, skills exchanges, and supply-chain partnerships. Photo: file LAHORE: Despite the government’s efforts to lure foreign direct investment (FDI) to stabilise a fragile economy, industry stakeholders believe that short-term inflows will remain episodic unless deep-rooted structural reforms are implemented to ensure long-term, innovation-based growth. Local industry experts argue that the recent influx of investment pledges from China, the UAE and Belarus are encouraging, but not necessarily transformational. They say these new ventures are largely capital-intensive, not innovation-driven, and fail to compensate…
This week’s equity market wobble, which saw a retreat in U.S. AI-related stocks amid ongoing concerns over stretched valuations, has thrust contagion concerns into the spotlight for European investors.Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon warned this week of a “likely” 10-20% drawdown in equity markets at some point within the next two years, while the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England have both sounded the alarm bells.Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey highlighted the possibilities of an AI bubble in an interview with CNBC on Thursday, noting that the “very positive productivity contribution” from technology companies could be offset…
Iesco stood on top in the wake of its plausible performance to curb losses, improve recoveries and act in line with the time frame for new connections. PHOTO: FILE ISLAMABAD: Industry players have rejected the government’s claims of reducing circular debt, tariff cuts due to revisions in agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) and the incremental package. They have called for more reduction in tariffs for revival of the industry. Following a decline in the last two quarters of the previous fiscal year, capacity charges have once again surged as power distribution companies (DISCOs) have sought approval of the National…
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presents a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) flag to the captain and political commissar of the Fujian at a naval port in Sanya City, south China’s Hainan Province, Nov. 5, 2025. Xi on Wednesday attended the commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony of the Fujian, China’s first aircraft carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults, in south China’s Hainan Province.Xi boarded the aircraft carrier to inspect the vessel at a naval port in Sanya City. (Xinhua/Li Gang)SANYA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — President Xi…
A screenshot of Downdetector’s page on November 7, 2025. Source: The Express Tribune Last night, around 10pm Thursday, people across Karachi faced problems with their internet and online services. Internet service providers such as PTCL and Stormfiber, as well as services and applications such as WhatsApp, YouTube, Amazon Web Services and Instagram, saw outages, reports Downdetector. According to the outage monitor, PTCL and Stormfiber services hit snags within the same time frame, between 9pm and midnight. PTCL saw 112 reported outages at its peak around 10.30pm, while Stormfiber saw 59 reported outages. People mostly complained about internet outages, though some experienced a…
NFC Award likely to be revised, FM gets constitutional powers, judiciary sees another round of reforms Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a meeting of the federal cabinet. PHOTO: EXPRESS The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has finalised an initial draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif having consulted coalition partners on the proposal. Following its approval in today’s federal cabinet meeting, the amendment bill is set to be presented in the Senate. What we’re hearing about the initial draft: Article 243 Amended Article 243 to rename the post of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to…
An Amazon Web Services Inc. office in Herndon, Virginia, U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images October’s job losses in the U.S. were nearly twice as high as a month earlier — the steepest for any October since 2003, data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed.The technology sector was the hardest hit, with 33,281 cuts, almost six times September’s total.Being laid off is an awful feeling — and it must feel bitterly ironic to work in a field that’s developing the very technology making you redundant.One person spared both redundancy fears and existential…
Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Ismail, and Mahmood Moulvi become active again, planning meetings with political stakeholders Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders have re-emerged on the political stage, initiating contacts with senior government figures in what is being described as an effort to ease political tensions and seek relief for the party’s jailed founder, Imran Khan. Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023 in multiple cases, including the £190 million corruption reference in which he was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while his wife, Bushra Bibi, was handed a seven-year jail term. With the former prime minister’s legal options narrowing, no breakthrough…
Information ministry says security forces responded immediately in a measured and responsible manner Chaman border. PHOTO: AFP Pakistan has strongly rejected Afghan claims accusing its forces of initiating firing at the Pak-Afghan border in Chaman, asserting instead that the incident began from the Afghan side and was met with a measured response. In a statement posted on X, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said, “We strongly reject claims circulated by the Afghan side regarding today’s incident at the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman. Firing was initiated from the Afghan side, to which our security forces responded immediately in a measured…
Tan Su Shan is the CEO and director of DBS Group.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesWith valuations in the U.S. stock market becoming increasingly stretched, the chief executive of Southeast Asia’s largest bank is warning investors to expect turbulence ahead.”We’ve seen a lot of volatility in the markets. It could be equities, it could be rates, it could be foreign exchange,” DBS CEO Tan Su Shan told CNBC, adding that she expects that volatility to continue.Tan, who took over the helm of DBS from longtime CEO Piyush Gupta in March, said that investors were particularly worried about the lofty valuations…