IMF projects 3% growth for Pakistan in 2025 amid ‘lackluster’ global outlook

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed officials to establish a world-class cargo scanning system in the commercial hub of Karachi and other major trade centers in Pakistan to improve the country’s prospects as a regional trade and transit hub, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.
Sharif issued the directives at a meeting to review transit cargo and tracking system in the federal capital of Islamabad, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
The development comes amid Pakistan’s efforts to position itself as a regional trade and transit hub by leveraging its strategic geopolitical position.
Sharif instructed officials to ensure the implementation of modern technology and abolish the obsolete system of tracking, tracing and scanning cargo.
“Pakistan will become a hub of transit trade for other regional countries due to its integrated communication system and better tracking of cargo,” he was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.
Pakistan, faced with a prolonged economic meltdown, has witnessed a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity involving officials from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, China and Central Asian nations in recent months.
This week, Emirati multinational logistics company DP World, in collaboration with Pakistan’s National Logistics Corporation (NLC), launched a feeder service to transport shipping containers from Dubai to Karachi, Pakistani state media reported.
The weekly service promises faster and more reliable container delivery, directly benefiting the business community and boosting economic activity in the region.
Sharif said there had been a significant decrease in smuggling due to Pakistan’s efforts to improve cargo tracking system.
“Due to curtailing smuggling, sugar worth 211 million dollars was exported to Afghanistan this [fiscal] year,” he was quoted as saying.
The prime minister also directed officials to ensure third-party validation of cargo tracking service providers.

ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Friday announced the establishment of camps for temporary displaced persons (TDPs) ahead of a possible operation in the restive Kurram district, which has been hit by deadly clashes in the last two months.
The announcement of the establishment of TDP camps came a day after militants ambushed a convoy bringing supplies to the region, killing 10 people, while there were reports of the kidnapping of another five drivers.
Kurram, a northwestern district of around 600,000 people in KP, has been rocked by tribal and sectarian clashes since November 21, when armed men attacked a convoy of Shia passengers, killing 52 people.
The attack sparked further violence and blockade of a main road connecting Kurram’s main town of Parachinar with the provincial capital of Peshawar, causing medicine, food and fuel shortages in the area, as casualties surged to 136.
“It is stated that LEAs [law enforcement agencies] is planning an operation in various areas of Lower Kurram... to counter terrorism,” the Kurram deputy commissioner’s office said in a notification on Friday.
“In order to ensure safety and support of the affected population during the expected operation, the following sites are proposed for establishment of camps for the TDPs of District Kurram,” it said, naming Government Boys Degree College, Government Technical College, Rescue 1122 Compound and Judicial Building in Tal area as the potential sites.
Feuding tribes have battled with machine guns and heavy weapons in Kurram, cutting off the remote and mountainous region bordering Afghanistan from the outside world.
Thursday’s ambush targeted a convoy of 33 vehicles set to resupply local traders in the region with rice, flour and cooking oil and two aid vehicles carrying essential medicine. It followed a similar attack on a supply convoy this month that injured five people, including a top administration official in the region.
The violence has continued despite a peace agreement signed between the warring tribes on Jan. 1. Under the peace agreement, both sides had agreed on the demolition of bunkers and the handover of heavy weapons to authorities within two weeks.
Since late last month, provincial authorities have been supplying relief goods and transporting ailing and injured people from Kurram to Peshawar via helicopters.