High connections: David Miliband joins Pakistani private equity firm

KARACHI: In what appears to be a coup for the fledgling Pakistani private equity industry, Indus Basin Holdings has managed to get Britain’s former foreign secretary David Miliband on board as a senior adviser. “We are delighted to be able to bring on board the expertise of Miliband who knows the region and its challenges well,” said Indus Basin founder and CEO Aamer Sarfraz, according to a press release issued by Miliband’s office. “He shares our conviction that investment in Pakistan’s agricultural sector can have substantial long-term impact on the country’s poorest farming communities.” “I am delighted to be advising Indus Basin Holding, a company that is investing in Pakistan’s future at a time of such fundamental...

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Finance minister to visit KSE today

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs, Revenue and Statistics Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, accompanied by the Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Mohammad Ali, would visit the Karachi Stock Exchange on Saturday (Jan 21). The minister would exchange views with the members at 3:30 in the afternoon. There was a rush of blood as the announcement was made at the KSE on Friday morning. Equities all across the board galloped with the KSE-100 index running up 367 points to highest 11,516, but pulling back 100 points and close at 11,775. The investors were enthused by the hope of a change of heart on the part of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in regard to thelong held grievances of investors...

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Free trade: ‘Pakistan, India both violating WTO rules’

ISLAMABAD: Like Pakistan, India too is violating World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules by opting for a discriminatory investment regime against Islamabad but the policymakers are not interested to push New Delhi to amend its rules before doing the same themselves. In a briefing to the media here on Friday, Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood said India has Pakistan-specific non-tariff barriers to restrict trade in services and block investment from Islamabad. He, however, said New Delhi did not have non-tariff barriers for trade in goods. He said he had discussed this issue with his Indian counterpart but the government would not push for resolving the issue before establishing a non-discriminatory trade regime, commonly known...

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