UN experts demand Pakistan release Baloch rights activists

ISLAMABAD: Top companies from Hungary are in Pakistan this week for business-to-business engagements with their counterparts, the Hungarian foreign minister said, as Islamabad pushes to seek investments from allies old and new to bolster its struggling economy. 
The IMF’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), approved last year, has played a key role in stabilizing Pakistan’s economy in recent months and set it on the path of long-term recovery. However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has vowed to reduce dependence on foreign loans in the coming years and seek more direct investment.
“I have brought with me top business leaders from Hungary. They are meeting with their Pakistani counterparts in B2B sessions today, and we hope to see new partnerships and trade avenues open,” Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó, who led a 17-member Hungarian business delegation to Islamabad, said at a business forum on Thursday.
Key public and private sector representatives from both countries attended the business forum to identify sector-specific synergies. Hungarian delegates represented industries such as IT, agri-tech, water management, health tech and advanced manufacturing, sectors in line with Pakistan’s development goals.
The Hungarian foreign minister also pointed to opportunities for collaboration in various sectors, including energy, agriculture, IT, food security, sports, and advanced manufacturing, and said a Hungarian private airline was exploring launching operations in Pakistan, indicating growing interest and confidence in the Pakistani market.

Szijjártó called Pakistan an “important economic partner” and emphasized Hungary’s continued advocacy for Pakistan’s preferential trade access to European markets under the GSP+ scheme. 
“Hungary stands with Pakistan on the GSP+ front. It not only benefits Pakistan’s exports but also strengthens EU-Pakistan relations through sustainable development and inclusive trade,” he said.
Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, speaking at the business forum, welcomed Hungary’s continued support for Pakistan’s GSP+ status and praised Hungary’s technological strengths, particularly in seed technology, agriculture feed, and the services sector. 
“Our economic reforms are designed to improve ease of doing business, attract foreign investment, and create strong infrastructure to support sustainable growth,” said Kamal, highlighting several government initiatives such as the National Tariff Policy, Strategic Trade Policy Framework, Pakistan Single Window, and transit trade agreements with Central Asian countries aimed at enhancing regional and global trade integration.
On Thursday, Pakistan and Hungary signed an agreement to abolish visa requirements for diplomatic passport holders of both countries, along with two memorandums of understanding in the fields of culture and archaeology.

KARACHI: Pakistani actor and director Yasir Hussain has said he is willing to pause his career and stay home with his young son if his wife, acclaimed actress Iqra Aziz, required him to, highlighting his support for her flourishing career in the entertainment industry.

Aziz and Hussain, one of Pakistan’s most talked-about celebrity couples, tied the knot in December 2019 following a public proposal at the Lux Style Awards that year. The couple welcomed their son, Kabir, in July 2021 and have since carefully balanced their personal life with demanding professional commitments.

Aziz is currently starring in the television drama Paradise, while Hussain is performing as the director and male lead in the theater production Monkey Business, running at the Karachi Arts Council. 

Despite their shared background in showbiz, the two have taken different routes, with Aziz focusing largely on television dramas and Hussain leaning toward theater and directing.

“Today, if she [Iqra] tells me to leave everything and take care of Kabir because she is doing a film, I’ll leave everything,” Hussain told Arab News in an interview this week. “Obviously, my child comes first for me.”

He said fatherhood and marriage had brought a noticeable change in his temperament.

“I was very hyper before marriage,” he said.. “It’s a good change and I am liking it.”

Hussain said being part of the same profession had helped him and his wife better understand each other’s demanding schedules.

“If I was married to a doctor, maybe, so I don’t know her profession, she doesn’t know mine,” he said. 

“So, maybe there would have been some issues in between us like what are these shift timings or it’s not fair that you go to the theater everyday all day. So, there would have been issues perhaps. But now we know how it works.”

Still, Hussain said he made a conscious effort to maintain professional boundaries, including not seeking roles opposite his wife on screen.

“I think there is a gap of 10 or 11 years between Iqra and I,” he added. “I want her to work with actors her age. I don’t want her screen age to increase for no reason because of me.”

Hussain also said he didn’t seek to share the small screen with his wife just because she was a famous actress.

Previously, though, the couple have worked together in the drama serial Jhooti while they were engaged, and later in the mini-series Aik Thi Laila, which Hussain directed. He has also produced Paradise, which Aziz is currently starring in alongside actor Shuja Asad.

“Marriage is a very personal thing and I don’t want to show that chemistry onscreen in a TV drama at least.”

And though they were both part of the entertainment industry, Hussain said they maintained clear professional independence.

“We have a life as individuals as well. We don’t influence each other on the career choices we wish to make,” he said.

That said, he expressed a preference for Aziz to avoid dark or gritty roles.

“I don’t want Iqra to do films like Javed Iqbal or Taxali Gate or the series Khatarnaak that I’m shooting in Lahore,” he said. 

“I don’t want her to get into such dark content. She is a very lively person and has the image of a happy-go-lucky individual. I don’t want her image to be dark or political.”