Via Rest of World, a look at how Pakistani startups are having a dazzling run, and the country might get its first billion-dollar venture soon: The Pakistani tech startup industry witnessed many highs in the last couple of years — record-breaking funding rounds, debuts by marquee global investors, and the emergence of founder “mafias,” among others. If all goes […]
Read more »Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on Pakistan’s increasingly fragile economy: Pakistan is in political and economic chaos. Its most populous province, Punjab, was without a government for almost a month because the governor, who was appointed by former prime minister Imran Khan, had refused to administer an oath to the newly elected chief […]
Read more »Via Rest of World, an article on Pakistan’s tech investment boom: In 2019, when Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi founded i2i Ventures, a $15 million Pakistan-focused venture capital (VC) fund, they hoped to sign about three deals a year. Now, they’re signing that many deals every quarter. “I can barely keep up with the deal flow,” Lakhani […]
Read more »Via The Diplomat, commentary that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project seems to have far more going against it than pushing in its favor: India has restarted efforts to revive the much-delayed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project. The pipeline was discussed during a recent three-day state visit to Turkmenistan by Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind. TAPI remains […]
Read more »Via The Diplomat, a report on Uzbekistan search for new trade routes to the south: Uzbekistan has received its first transit shipment via Pakistan and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. For Uzbekistan, this means prioritizing a southern-looking policy, as it seeks to assert its own identity in the region and establish viable alternative trading partners. A private trader in […]
Read more »Via East Africa Forum, an article on obstacles to energy security in Central and South Asia: On 25 January 2022, an unprecedented blackout spread across much of southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. This is not the first time that Central Asia has experienced power outages, which have increased alarmingly in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In […]
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