KARACHI: US tech firm Spectreco LLC and AlBaraka Forum, a Saudi think-tank, would launch an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Index in June to develop a robust benchmark for sustainable investments that align with the Islamic law and global regulations, the Spectreco chief executive officer told Arab News.
The two partners announced the launch of the Artificial Intelligence-led Shariah-compliant ESG index at the 45th AlBaraka Islamic Economics Symposium which was held last week in the Saudi city of Madinah.
“The actual launch of this index will happen in Istanbul in June,” said Faraz Khan, the winner of UK’s prestigious Order of the British Empire who was born in Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta.
“In the next three to five years, we hope to make this index [will be] the most widely used index in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region, starting with Saudi Arabia and led by it.”
The index is designed to be a “game changer” and a smart, technology-driven solution that will integrate the faith-based financial system with global ESG regulations. It will have the fundamentals of both the global ESG regulations and Shariah-compliant financial systems, and will be binding them through technology, according to Khan.
Spectreco and AlBaraka are currently looking for users, asset managers, banks and funds for the index that would help the Islamic economy and the wider world to integrate in a more value proposition-oriented way. The initiative would serve stakeholders, including investors, regulators and Islamic finance institutions seeking to align faith-based investment practices with modern sustainability goals, as the reporting of their compliance with ESG regulations is becoming mandatory for companies from Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia Pacific, and parts of North America.
“Now your trade and FDI both have embedded the sustainability and ESG and carbon footprint mechanisms across their space,” Khan told Arab News in an interview.
He said Islamic economies from the Middle East and North Africa region, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, were moving toward mandatory ESG compliance reporting, while Oman had already made it mandatory.
“A huge Islamic economy is moving toward mandatory reporting,” said Khan, whose firm aims to simplify sustainability reporting, compliance and performance tracking across multiple jurisdictions.
Speaking of the leverage his company has over others in terms of entering Saudi Arabia and other gulf markets, Khan said they have a technology that has an end-to-end mechanism and is driven by data, evidence and AI in the space of ESG and sustainability.
“We have on-ground expertise of the built environment and financial services and investor paradigm,” he said.
Yousef Hassan Khalawi, secretary-general at the Albaraka Forum that aims to advance Islamic economy, said the global Islamic economy was attracting more and more people and its size was expected to increase to $7 trillion by 2028.
“This is yet not that number which can represent the capacity of Muslims which are as a population now almost around 25 percent” of the world population, Khalawi told Arab News in a separate interview from Bahrain.
At $2 trillion, he said, the Islamic finance industry is still less than five percent of the global finance industry. He said the Shariah-compliant index would encourage bankers and business developers to develop more products that would meet global sustainability standards.
“It is, it should be a global index which means it should cover banks from Indonesia till Nigeria till even South Africa,” Khalawi said.
Around 65 percent of Islamic banking assets were concentrated in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region as well as Malaysia, according to the Albaraka official. In Saudi Arabia, the size of retail Islamic banking stood more than 95 percent while the corporate size was over 70 percent.
“Here, you are focusing on the major markets and then the rest of the world will come easier,” he added.
Khalawi called Pakistan a “very important nation,” with one of the “fiercest creators” of the Shariah-compliant economy.
Pakistan’s Islamic banking is growing at more than 20 percent every year and its government is trying to fully make its interest-based financial system Shariah-compliant by Dec. 2027, a deadline set by Pakistan’s Shariah court in April 2022.
“Many initiatives also will come in Pakistan,” Khalawi said. “For sure, we are considering Pakistan, as I said, in every single initiative we have.”
US tech giant joins hands with Saudi think-tank to launch AI-led, Shariah-compliant global ESG Index
https://arab.news/gu494
US tech giant joins hands with Saudi think-tank to launch AI-led, Shariah-compliant global ESG Index
- The new index aims to bridge $2 trillion Islamic economy with global ESG standards, says CEO of US tech firm
- Saudi think-tank Albaraka Forum says the index will help grow the Islamic economy to $7 trillion in three years
Pakistan to send delegation to key world capitals to highlight stance on India standoff
- PM Shehbaz Sharif has asked former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to lead Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach
- The delegation will visit London, Washington, Paris, and Brussels in the coming days to counter India’s narrative
KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday tasked former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari with leading Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach to major international capitals to present the country’s perspective on the recent military conflict with India, as hostilities persist despite a US-brokered ceasefire following four days of cross-border strikes.
The move follows an April 22 gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. India blamed Pakistan for the assault, a claim Islamabad denied while calling for an international investigation.
The incident triggered retaliatory military action by India across the Line of Control in Kashmir and in mainland Pakistan, followed by Islamabad’s reprisal strikes. US President Donald Trump later announced a ceasefire on May 10, with his administration saying the countries had agreed to begin talks at a neutral venue to resolve outstanding disputes.
However, India has pushed back against the understanding, with New Delhi announcing to dispatch a delegation to key world capitals earlier on Saturday. Pakistan’s decision to do the same came later in the day.
“The prime minister has decided to send a diplomatic delegation to expose Indian propaganda and nefarious conspiracies at the international level,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, adding that Sharif had contacted Bhutto-Zardari in this regard.
“The delegation will expose India’s propaganda and efforts to destabilize regional peace in London, Washington, Paris and Brussels,” it added.
Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad a day earlier, Sharif said India and Pakistan had fought several wars in the past, though these conflicts had not helped them resolve their disputes.
He urged India to begin dialogue to address mutual concerns and ensure peaceful coexistence.
Bhutto-Zardari also confirmed the assignment in a post on social media platform X.
“I was contacted earlier today by Prime Minister @CMShehbaz, who requested that I lead a delegation to present Pakistan’s case for peace on the international stage,” he wrote. “I am honored to accept this responsibility and remain committed to serving Pakistan in these challenging times.”
The delegation aims to lobby officials and diplomats on Pakistan’s narrative.
Besides Bhutto-Zardari, the team includes Musadik Malik, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Sherry Rehman, Hina Rabbani Khar, Faisal Subzwari and former diplomats Tehmina Janjua and Jalil Abbas Jilani.
IMF says Pakistan’s loan ‘fully financed,’ with $6 billion inflows expected next fiscal year
- The global lender releases its country report, acknowledging improvements in Pakistan’s financial position
- IMF says despite the recovery, Pakistan’s growth in the first half of the fiscal year was below expectations
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday Pakistan’s bailout program is “fully financed,” citing nearly $6 billion in external inflows expected in the next fiscal year and renewed commitments from key allies to roll over maturing debt.
The IMF released its country report on Pakistan earlier in the day, offering financial reassurance for the country, which in 2023 was on the verge of default and had to secure emergency funding.
Islamabad had to line up financing guarantees from friendly nations such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China before the IMF agreed to revive its lending program, a standard condition to ensure the country could meet its external obligations.
Pakistan also secured a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) last year after the international lender acknowledged the country’s progress in implementing stringent reforms that led to improved macroeconomic indicators.
“The program is fully financed, with firm commitments for the next 12 months and good prospects for the remainder of the Fund-supported program,” the IMF said in the report.
It added“substantial progress” had been made in realizing financing committed ahead of the EFF request, with $2.6 billion already disbursed or expected to be disbursed in the coming months.
It said these included support from Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Development Bank and a commercial loan backed by a partial guarantee from the Asian Development Bank.
The Fund projected Pakistan would receive around $6 billion in external inflows during the next fiscal year beginning in July.
It added these consist of fresh disbursements from the IMF, oil imports from Saudi Arabia on deferred payment terms, funding from China and other international financial institutions, budget support loans and proceeds from planned bond issuances.
Pakistan also intends to borrow modestly from commercial banks.
“Firm commitments are also in place for an additional $1 billion of financing in the next 12 months,” the IMF said. “Key bilateral partners remain committed to rolling over existing short-term liabilities in the remaining program period.”
The report noted the country’s financial and external conditions had improved, with foreign reserves exceeding program projections and a current account surplus recorded in the first eight months of the ongoing fiscal year.
It said inflation has declined to “historical lows,” although core inflation remains elevated at around 9 percent.
The Fund also noted economic recovery was continuing, but growth in the first half of FY25 was “somewhat lower than anticipated.”
PM Sharif says Pakistan witnessed world’s biggest drop in gender digital gap in 2024-25
- PM says Pakistan has over 200 million telecom subscriptions and 150 million broadband users
- Mobile manufacturing is up 47.5 percent as Pakistan boosts connectivity through submarine cables
KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday Pakistan recorded the world’s biggest reduction in the gender digital divide in 2024-25, with eight million more women gaining access to mobile Internet.
The announcement came on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, observed annually on May 17 to promote the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs).
The day was institutionalized in 1969 to commemorate the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on this day in 1865.
Pakistan has been striving to advance gender equality in digital access to serve its broader economic goals, particularly as it seeks to attract foreign investment in its IT sector.
“Pakistan has made remarkable progress in narrowing the gender digital divide,” Sharif said in a statement released by his office.
“In 2024-2025, 8 million more women gained mobile Internet access, reducing the gender gap from 38 percent to 25 percent— the highest improvement globally, led by rural women,” he added.
The prime minister highlighted that Pakistan’s digital transformation includes surpassing 200 million telecom subscriptions, 150 million broadband users and two million fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections.
Additionally, mobile manufacturing has grown by 47.46 percent, and international connectivity has been enhanced through high-capacity submarine cables.
The prime minister noted the mobile ecosystem was now contributing $16.7 billion to Pakistan’s economy.
He said the government was committed to fostering a digital environment that promotes inclusion and empowers women through targeted policies, skills development programs and gender-sensitive digital infrastructure.
Sharif also called on all stakeholders to champion gender-responsive digital transformation and continue building an inclusive and empowered digital Pakistan.
President Zardari visits troops in Gujranwala, lauds swift military response to Indian attack
- He praises people who lost their lives during the conflict, calling their sacrifice a source of national pride
- Pakistan says its response to New Delhi culminated in a successful pushback that neutralized the threat
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday praised the armed forces for swiftly repelling an Indian attack, saying they had changed the battlefield dynamics “within a matter of hours” in a recent military confrontation.
The comments came during a visit to Gujranwala Cantonment, where the president met with troops and top military leadership, including Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.
Zardari’s remarks refer to Pakistan’s military retaliation, launched in response to Indian missile and drone attacks last week in various parts of the country.
The operation, according to Pakistani officials, culminated in a successful pushback that neutralized the threat and shifted the momentum on the ground.
“History will bear witness to how, within a matter of hours, the Pakistan Armed Forces repelled aggression with unmatched precision and resolve, sending an unequivocal message of Pakistan’s strength, resilience and national unity,” Zardari said, according to a statement from the military’s media wing.
During his visit, the president paid tribute to both military personnel and civilians who lost their lives in defense of the country, calling their sacrifice “a sacred trust and a source of enduring national pride.”
He also congratulated troops on the conclusion of the military operation, praising their morale, combat readiness and commitment to safeguarding national sovereignty.
The visit came amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and India following cross-border hostilities, though both sides have now been observing a fragile ceasefire.
The president was also accompanied by interior minister Mohsin Naqvi and received at the cantonment by senior army commanders from Gujranwala and Mangla Corps.
Pakistan detains four deportees linked to human smuggling after UAE convictions
- The suspects arrived in Pakistan on emergency travel documents after serving their sentences in the UAE
- Pakistan has intensified its crackdown on human smuggling networks following migrant boat tragedies
KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday detained four men deported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for their alleged involvement in human smuggling and prostitution, as Pakistan intensifies its crackdown on such networks following a series of deadly migrant boat tragedies.
The suspects were arrested upon arrival at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, according to an FIA statement, after being convicted in the UAE for participating in illegal activities. After serving their sentences, they were deported to Pakistan on emergency travel documents.
“FIA Immigration carries out a major operation,” the statement said. “Four suspects arriving from the UAE have been taken into custody. The suspects were involved in illegal activities in the UAE.”
“The suspects have been transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Karachi for further legal action,” it added.
The arrests come amid Pakistan’s broader campaign against human smuggling, which has gained urgency following multiple migrant boat disasters involving Pakistani nationals.
Earlier this year, over 40 Pakistanis were feared drowned near Morocco’s coast while in 2023 more than 200 Pakistanis were presumed dead in a shipwreck off Greece.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to dismantle human smuggling networks that lure citizens into perilous journeys with false promises of better lives abroad.
“Global cooperation is essential to combat prostitution carried out under the guise of human smuggling,” the FIA said.
“All available resources are being utilized to eliminate human smuggling,” it added.
