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Local businesses wary of conflict

Corporate Pakistan may share in the patriotic surge across the country, but business leaders, mindful of the risks, are calling for swift de-escalation of tensions with India. Some warn the conflict threatens South Asia’s economic potential, especially as global trade pivots toward regional integration. They note the rising pressure on the capital market, currency, and supply chains — particula

Will AI work with our demographic dividend?

For many years, Pakistan’s story — particularly, the case for investing — has largely pinned on some variation of the demographic dividend. Basically, the fact that we have a huge youth population of digital natives not only makes us a potential powerhouse as a consumer market but also an attractive source of raw talent. While the argument has merit, it’s not without caveats, which have an inverse

CORPORATE WINDOW: Abandoning a legacy treaty

Even though there exists no provision for the unilateral abrogation or suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), India’s decision to “hold in abeyance” the 64-year-old water-sharing pact in the wake of a militant attack in the tourist destination of Pahalgam in the Occupied Kashmir shows that it is ready to go the extra mile to choke the lifeline water flows to Pakistan. In doing so, New Delh

Samsung fights $520m India tax demand, points to Reliance practice

Samsung has asked an Indian tribunal to quash a $520 million tax demand for allegedly misclassifying imports of networking gear, arguing officials were aware of the practice as India’s Reliance imported the same component in a similar manner for years, documents show. Samsung becomes the second major foreign company in recent months to challenge an Indian tax demand. Volkswagen has sued Prim

Tensions with India to ‘influence’ SBP’s monetary policy decision

Despite a long-term decline in inflation and real interest rates above 11 per cent, opinions on the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) likely decision on the policy rate are divided, with trade and industry sectors advocating for a significant cut. Researchers conducted polls to gauge market sentiment, but the 0.3pc inflation in April has caused division among those who were confident there would b