Pakistan says in ‘advanced’ talks with Saudi Arabia for investment in copper, gold mines

ISLAMABAD: More than 40 Pakistanis are feared to have drowned in the capsizing of a boat off West Africa’s Atlantic coastline, which has emerged as a primary point of departure for migrants aiming to reach Europe.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grief over the deaths and stressed the need for strict measures to curb human trafficking.
Zardari’s comments in a statement late Thursday came after a Spain-based migrant rights group, Walking Borders, said 50 people had died on their way to the Canary Islands and that 44 of them were Pakistanis. The group said the migrants began their journey on Jan. 2.
Pakistan said it had been informed by its embassy in Morocco that a boat carrying 80 passengers, including some Pakistanis, had set off from Mauritania and capsized near Dakhla, a Moroccan-controlled port city in the disputed Western Sahara.
Millions of people migrate to Europe each year, the vast majority using legal and regular means. Less than 240,000 people crossed borders into the continent without papers last year, according to the European Union’s border agency Frontex.
As authorities have worked to prevent migration and smuggling from countries in the Mediterranean Sea, more dangerous routes have become increasingly used. Frontex reported more than 50,000 migrants made the journey from northwest Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands in 2024, including 178 Pakistanis.
Walking Borders said in a report last week that 9,757 people had died or gone missing trying to cross to the islands, calling the route “the deadliest in the world.”
The islands are roughly 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the closest point in Africa, but to avoid security forces, many migrants attempt longer journeys that can take days or weeks. The majority last year departed from Mauritania, which is at least 473 miles (762 kilometers) from the closest Canary Island, El Hierro.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said several survivors, including Pakistanis, are staying in a camp near Dakhla. Pakistan’s Embassy in Morocco is in touch with local authorities and officials have gone to Dakhla to help survivors, according to a ministry statement.
The ministry did not say how many Pakistanis had died. Officials at the ministry were not immediately available for comment on Friday.
Hundreds of Pakistanis die every year while trying to reach Europe by land and sea with the help of human smugglers.
In 2023, an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board an overcrowded fishing boat carrying migrants that sank off Greece. Many perished in what was one of the deadliest incidents in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pakistan says it has launched a crackdown on human traffickers.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has recorded the highest ever monthly IT exports of $348 million, up by 15 percent year-on-year and 12 percent month-on-month in Dec. 2024, while exports were up 28 percent year-on-year in the first half of fiscal year 2025, data from the Topline Securities brokerage house showed on Friday.

The growth figures come as associations and businesses have expressed alarm over slowing Internet speeds since last year, as the federal government moves to implement a nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow the government to identify IP addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda.” The government has also been cracking down on VPN use for months, with the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) announcing that businesses and freelancers would be able to legally use VPNs by registering with the government, but unregistered VPNs would be blocked in Pakistan after Nov. 30, 2024. The deadline was later withdrawn, and a new one has not been announced.

The use of VPNs has sharply risen in Pakistan since February last year when the government banned X soon after allegations of rigging in general elections surfaced. The election commission denies them.

In a report released on Friday, Topline said monthly IT exports in Dec. 2024 were higher than the last 12 month’s average of $299 million. This is the 15th consecutive month of YoY IT export growth, starting from Oct. 2023. This takes IT exports for the first half of fiscal year 2025 to $1.86 billion, up by 28 percent YoY. Export proceeds per day were recorded at $16.6 million for Dec. 24, compared to $14.8 million in Nov. 24. 

“YoY jump in IT exports is due to (1) IT export companies growing client base globally, especially in GCC region, (2) relaxation in the permissible retention limit by the State Bank of Pakistan, increasing it from 35 percent to 50 percent in the Exporters’ Specialized Foreign Currency Accounts, (3) allowance of equity investment abroad through these foreign currency accounts and (4) stability in PKR encouraging IT exporters to bring higher portion of profits back to Pakistan,” the Topline report said. 

“Pakistani IT companies are active in engaging with global clients. Recently leading IT companies of Pakistan attended Oslo Innovation Week 2024, and Pak-US Tech Investment Conference.”

According to a Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) survey, 62 percent of IT companies are maintaining specialized foreign currency accounts.

A major development in FY25 was the state bank adding a new category of Equity Investment Abroad (EIA), specifically for export-oriented IT companies. IT exporters can now acquire interest (shareholding) in entities abroad utilizing up to 50 percent proceeds from specialized foreign currency accounts. 

“This development will further boost confidence of IT exporters to remit proceeds back to Pakistan,” Topline said.

“We believe, IT sector will continue its growth trajectory and momentum with likely growth of 10-15 percent for FY25 to $3.5-3.7bn. Under ‘Uraan Pakistan’ national economic plan, the government has set a target of $10bn IT exports by FY29. This implies a target CAGR of 28 percent till FY29.”

Last August, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the national firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.” 

The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), the country’s top representative body for the IT sector, warned last year Internet slowdowns and the restriction of VPN services could lead to financial losses and closures and increase operational costs for the industry by up to $150 million annually.