ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Friday urged its nationals in Syria to exercise “extreme caution” and avoid unnecessary travel to the country, as fears of civilian casualties rise amid fierce clashes between government and opposition forces there.
A coalition of Syrian armed opposition forces last week launched their largest offensive against the government in years, raising fears of instability in the Middle East.
The armed forces swept through villages outside Aleppo last week and now say they control much of the city, meeting little resistance as the Syrian military quickly withdrew.
“In view of the recent developments and evolving situation in Syria, Pakistan nationals are advised to avoid unnecessary travel or visit to Syria until the situation improves,” the foreign ministry said in its latest advisory.
“Those currently in Syria are advised to exercise extreme caution and remain in contact with the Embassy of Pakistan in Damascus,” it added.
Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson on Thursday expressed alarm at the escalating violence in Syria and called for a de-escalation in violence.
The Syrian government has vowed to fight back against the rebels’ assault. Russia, which deployed its air force to Syria in 2015 to help President Bashar Assad, is conducting airstrikes in support of the army.
It marks the most serious escalation of the conflict in years, adding to a toll which stands at hundreds of thousands dead since 2011, when the war mushroomed out of an Arab Spring uprising against Assad’s rule. Since then, more than half the pre-war population of 23 million have been forced from their homes, with millions fleeing abroad as refugees.
In unprecedented development, Pakistan chief justice meets visiting IMF team
Discusses judicial reforms, accountability, recent restructuring of commission that recommends judges to superior courts
Finance ministry said on Sunday IMF mission would visit Pakistan to conduct Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment
Updated 9 sec ago
Ismail Dilawar
KARACHI: In a rare development on Tuesday, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation visiting Pakistan met the country’s chief justice for discussions on judicial reforms, accountability and the recent controversial restructuring of a commission that recommends judges for Pakistan’s superior courts.
The finance ministry said on Sunday a three-member IMF mission would visit Pakistan in the coming week to conduct a Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment under the country’s 2024 Extended Fund Facility program for a $7 billion loan. The ministry said the mission’s report would recommend actions for addressing corruption vulnerabilities and strengthening integrity and governance, with the findings helping to shape structural reforms.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said in a press release the IMF team led by Joel Turkewitz had met with Chief Justice Yahya Afridi.
The statement quoted the CJ as saying he would be “quite guarded” in his comments to the IMF team and the judiciary was “not used to direct interaction with such missions,” but it was taking place on the request of the finance division.
“He then highlighted key Constitutional developments with respect to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan and reforms, including senior-level judicial appointments, judicial accountability, and the restructuring of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP). He elaborated on the merits of integrating the judiciary and the parliamentary committee to ensure a more transparent and efficient judicial selection process,” the SC statement said.
Discussions during the meeting also centered on judicial accountability and mechanisms for addressing complaints against judges.
“The Chief Justice emphasized the importance of a robust and fair accountability process to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary,” the statement said.
The finance ministry statement on Sunday had said the focus of the visiting mission would be to “examine the severity of corruption vulnerabilities across six core state functions.”
“These include fiscal governance, central bank governance and operations, financial sector oversight, market regulation, rule of law, and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism,” it read.
The finance ministry said the IMF had long provided advice and technical assistance to foster good governance such as promoting public sector transparency and accountability.
“Traditionally the IMF’s main focus has been on encouraging countries to correct macroeconomic imbalances, reduce inflation, and undertake key trade, exchange, and other market reforms needed to improve efficiency and support sustained economic growth,” the finance ministry said on Feb. 9.
“While these remain its main focus in all its member countries, however the IMF has found that a much broader range of institutional reforms is needed if countries are to establish and maintain private sector confidence and thereby lay the basis for sustained growth.”
The IMF identified that promoting good governance in all its aspects, including ensuring the rule of law, improving the efficiency and accountability of the public sector, and tackling corruption, “are essential elements of a framework within which economies can prosper,” the ministry said, welcoming the IMF’s technical support and saying the assessment would aid efforts to promote transparency and institutional capacity.
The South Asian country, currently bolstered by a $7 billion IMF facility granted in September, is navigating an economic recovery.
The IMF is set to review Pakistan’s progress by March, with the government and central bank expressing confidence about meeting its targets.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday called for global support to meet Pakistan’s $100 billion energy transition needs as he addressed participants at the World Governments Summit (WGS) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The summit, being held in Dubai on Feb. 11-13 under the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments’, brings together a large number of heads of state/government, global policymakers, and leading private sector figures to discuss the future of governance, innovation and international cooperation.
Addressing the summit on Tuesday, the Pakistani prime minister urging stronger climate financing, technology sharing from governments, private investment, and multilateral cooperation for sustainable growth of developing nations.
“The global shift to a green economy requires a shared responsibility,” he said. “Pakistan’s energy transition alone demands $100 billion in investment and I call upon governments to strengthen climate financing and technology sharing, private investors to explore Pakistan’s green energy and infrastructure opportunities, multilateral institutions to support emerging economies like Pakistan in achieving sustainable growth.”
Sharif emphasized that while Pakistan was fully committed to mobilizing domestic resources and policy reforms, international partnerships and financial support remained critical to achieving this goal.
The South Asian country offers one of the most dynamic investment landscapes in Asia, with 70 percent of its dynamic, young and tech-savvy population under the age of 30, according to the prime minister. Pakistan is simplifying business regulations, enhancing legal protections and streamlining investment approvals to make it a leading destination for global capital.
“To drive investment in key sectors, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has been established focusing on renewable energy and resilient infrastructure, technology and digital economy, minerals and industrial development and agricultural and food security,” he said.
Pakistan established the SIFC, a civil-military body, in June 2023 to attract foreign investment by eliminating bureaucratic hurdles and provide a one-window operation to foreign businesses.
Sharif said his country stands at a “defining moment of economic transformation” as inflation dropped to 2.4 percent in January, the lowest in nine years, with the interest rate capped at 12 percent, a major stimulus for private sector credit.
He said the Udaan Pakistan national economic transformation plan, which focuses on exports, e-Pakistan, environment and climate change, energy and infrastructure, equity and empowerment, has energy security and sustainability at the core of its agenda, not just as an economic necessity but as a national priority.
“Pakistan is committed to achieving a 60 percent clean energy mix by 2030 and transitioning 30 percent of all vehicles to electric mobility and we are rapidly scaling up solar, wind, hydro power and nuclear energy,” he added. PAKISTANI, UAE LEADERS SEEK TO DEEPEN ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP
Sharif earlier met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with the Pakistan PM’s office saying both leaders discussed ways to deepen cooperation between Pakistan and the UAE and explored opportunities to enhance mutual interests.
“The talks focused on economic, trade, and development fields, alongside other areas that align with both nations’ visions for sustainable economic growth and prosperity,” Sharif’s office said said in a statement.
The two figures also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest, with a focus on recent developments in the Middle East.
“They emphasized the need for intensified international efforts for a comprehensive and lasting peace in Palestine based on the two-state solution to maintain regional security, stability, and peace,” Sharif’s office said.
The Pakistani premier also met with UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, who established the WGS in 2013.
“The Prime Minister lauded this transformative and timely initiative, providing a platform to world leaders, policy makers and experts, where they could gather under one roof to hold global discourse on the future of governance and better future,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
The prime minister highlighted Pakistan’s pro-investment policies aimed at facilitating Emirati investors in key sectors such as energy, infrastructure, mining and IT.
“He invited Emirati businesses to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan,” the statement read.
Pakistan says IMF ‘on board’ over $7 billion bailout targets
The statement comes days before the arrival of an IMF team for the first review of the facility
IMF bailouts are critical for Pakistan which narrowly avoided a sovereign default in June 2023
Updated 34 min 53 sec ago
Ismail Dilawar
KARACHI: Pakistan has taken the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on board over its targets under a $7 billion loan program it secured in September, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday, days before the arrival of an IMF mission in the South Asian nation for the program’s first review.
A successful review, expected later this month or in early March, would see the Washington-based lender release around $1 billion tranche to cash-strapped Pakistan, which seeks to boost its foreign exchange reserves to achieve the IMF’s threshold of three months import cover.
IMF bailouts are critical for Pakistan which narrowly avoided a sovereign default in June 2023 by clinching a last-gasp, $3 billion IMF loan and is currently navigating a tricky path to economic recovery.
“We are on track,” Khurram Schehzad, an adviser at the Pakistani finance ministry, told Arab News. “The IMF is on board on the targets and benchmarks that we have achieved as well as only a few we are chasing. We are fully prepared to go into the review process.”
The statement is expected to allay investor concerns about Pakistan meeting the IMF’s conditions to reform its economy by cutting on energy subsidies, broadening the tax net to agriculture, real estate and retail sectors, and privatizing loss-making, state-owned enterprises like the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
“We are working on the taxation side by bringing in the under-taxed and non-taxed sectors into the net by broadening, deepening and widening it,” Schehzad said.
Provincial governments in Pakistan’s Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces have recently enacted laws to impose taxes on farm incomes, fulfilling one of the IMF’s requirements.
Since averting an imminent default on its external debt in 2023, Pakistan is now keeping its current account in check primarily through containing imports. The country’s exports rose 10% to $19.6 billion in the last seven months till January, while it is keeping tabs on imports that increased by 7% to $33 billion, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
“Our balance of payment position is going to be manageable this year,” said Schehzad, who believes population growth and climate change are the two biggest challenges facing Pakistan’s economy.
The country achieved a current account surplus of $1.2 billion from July 2024 till December 2024 and is expecting to receive a record $35 billion worker remittances by June 2025. It expects IT exports to increase to $4 billion this year.
As jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party carries out countrywide protests to demand the return of its “stolen” mandate in the last general election, PM Shehbaz Sharif’s government is trying to shore up the fragile economy, which Schehzad said is expected to expand in the range of 3% to 3.5% this financial year ending in June.
Pakistan’s central bank has slashed the interest rate by a cumulative 1,000 basis points to 12% since June to spur economic growth, thanks to the easing inflation that rose 2.41% last month, the lowest in more than nine years.
“We are keeping an eye on the prices of all essential items that should be reflective of the prevailing inflation numbers, so to close the gap between numbers and on-ground prices,” the finance adviser said.
The pace of price hike is expected to ease further in the months ahead, which will create more room for the central bank to decrease the rate of bank borrowing.
“We are giving priority to long-term sustainability of the economy over short term reliefs,” Schehzad said.
The Pakistani government is striving to turn the hard-earned economic stability with fiscal and external consolidation into a growth that is export-led and driven by productive and efficient investments primarily by the private sector, according to the finance adviser.
The government is working to break the so-called boom-and-bust cycle Pakistan’s economy has been “suffering from in the past many years now” and targets 6% growth and beyond by 2029, he added.
Australia look to fine tune for Pakistan-hosted Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka ODIs
The Champions Trophy begins on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai
Australia are in a group with England, South Africa and Afghanistan
Updated 11 February 2025
AFP
COLOMBO: Captain Steve Smith admitted Tuesday the Champions Trophy would be on Australia minds when they play Sri Lanka in two one-day internationals this week, the final warm-ups for the eight-team tournament
The Champions Trophy begins on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai, and 50-over world champions Australia are in a group with England, South Africa and Afghanistan.
Australia face Sri Lanka in Colombo on Wednesday and Friday, fresh from a dominant 2-0 Test series sweep.
“I’d be lying if I said the Champions Trophy wasn’t at the forefront of our minds — it’s a massive ICC tournament for us,” Smith told reporters in Colombo.
“While our focus is firmly on finishing this series on a strong note, there is no denying that the Champions Trophy is looming large. We want to make sure we carry good form into that competition.”
Both ODIs will be played as day games, a rarity in modern cricket.
The floodlights in Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium are out of action as part of renovations ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted with India.
“Day games are quite different,” Smith said, adding he couldn’t remember his last ODI day match.
“But whatever the conditions, it’s going to be warm out there, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Before coming to Sri Lanka, Australia held a training camp in Dubai to prepare for “challenging wickets” in Sri Lanka, said Smith.
“The batters found methods to succeed in these conditions, the spinners worked on varying their pace, and the seamers fine-tuned their reverse swing,” he said.
“We hope to bring all that into this series and finish well.”
Sri Lanka did not qualify for the Champions Trophy after a dismal ninth-place finish at the World Cup in India in 2023.
“It’s disappointing, no doubt about it — but there’s nothing that we can do about it now,” Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Charith Asalanka said.
“What’s important is that we make sure this never happens again.”
Asalanka said the team wanted to focus on their successes — including beating India in 2024 in the first ODI in 27 years.
“We need to build on that momentum,” Asalanka added.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, Sharif’s office said, adding the two leaders discussed ways to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries to achieve sustainable growth.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit (WGS), being held in Dubai on Feb. 11-13 under the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments.’ This is Sharif’s second visit to the UAE since assuming office in March last year.
The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States, and a major source of foreign investment valued at over $10 billion in the last 20 years, according to the UAE’s foreign ministry.
Both countries have stepped up efforts in recent years to strengthen their economic relations. In Jan. 2024, Pakistan and the UAE signed multiple agreements worth more than $3 billion for cooperation in railways, economic zones and infrastructure.
“During their meeting at Qasr Al Shati in Abu Dhabi, the Prime Minister and His Highness discussed ways to deepen cooperation between Pakistan and the UAE and explored opportunities to enhance mutual interests,” Sharif’s office said.
“The talks focused on economic, trade, and development fields, alongside other areas that align with both nations’ visions for sustainable economic growth and prosperity.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets United Arab Emirates (UAE) Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit 2025, in Dubai on February 11, 2025. (PMO)
Policymakers in Pakistan consider the UAE an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions. It is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates, making it the second-largest Pakistani expatriate community worldwide and a major source of foreign workers’ remittances for Pakistan.
The meeting provided an opportunity to address the significance of the World Governments Summit in identifying global trends in governance and presenting actionable strategies to enhance government preparedness in navigating global transformations, according to Sharif’s office. The discussions underscored the importance of leveraging these shifts to accelerate development and build a better future for all.
Sharif is also meeting foreign companies and investors on the WGS sidelines as Pakistan, currently bolstered by a $7 billion facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted in September, navigates a narrow economic recovery path.
In one meeting, Sharif met with the Dubai-owned ports and logistics company DP World’s CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and discussed ongoing and future investments.
“Sharif appreciated DP World’s investment in Pakistan and its role in enhancing trade and logistics infrastructure,” the PM’s office said in a statement, reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to the early completion of projects under two Inter-Governmental Framework Agreements (GAs) signed in Jan. 2024 to strengthen relations in the marine and logistics sectors, including the establishment of a freight corridor and an economic zone near Karachi, the Pakistani commercial capital.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shakes hands with Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO DP World, during a meeting on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai on February 11, 2025. (Photo courtesy: PMO)
“[Sharif] said that Pakistan’s strategic location provides an ideal opportunity for DP World to expand its operations and emulate successful projects like Jebel Ali Port in Pakistan,” the PM office said.
Under the IGAs, DP World is developing a dedicated freight corridor to run from Karachi Port on the Arabian Sea, passing through Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city, to the Pipri Marshalling Yard, approximately 45km away. The corridor will improve efficiency, transport times, and reduce the overall cost of logistics. State-run Pakistan Railways and Port Qasim Authority will act on behalf of the Pakistan government for the development of the corridor.
A second framework agreement was signed with Pakistan’s ministry of maritime affairs to dredge the navigation channel. DP World will carry out the capital dredging on behalf of the government of Dubai.
The framework agreement will also see the development of an economic zone at Port Qasim, which aims to attract more than US $3 billion foreign direct investment. DP World, on behalf of the government of Dubai, will carry out the development of the economic zone, with the aim of maximizing economic activity in Pakistan.
DP World began operations in Pakistan in 1997 at the Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) – the first of its kind in the country – and has since transformed the facility into a leading gateway for global trade in the region.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets US businessman and Texas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach (2L) on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai on February 11, 2025. (Photo courtesy: PMO)
Separately, Sharif met US businessman and Texas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach, who is close to the family of American President Donald Trump. Beach visited Pakistan last month and discussed investments in the real estate, energy and minerals sectors.
“Beach, while recalling his recent visit to Pakistan, described the government’s policies as conducive for business and investment and expressed keen interest in investing in various sectors,” Sharif’s office said in a statement, adding that the US investor had pledged to “implement his investment plans in Pakistan at the earliest.”
