Gunmen attack aid convoy enroute to Pakistani district hit by sectarian clashes, injuring 4

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has asked authorities to expedite privatization of Pakistan-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Pakistani state media reported on Tuesday, amid Islamabad’s efforts to streamline its fragile $350 billion economy.
Roosevelt Hotel, a 19-story building located at a prime location in New York, was inaugurated in Manhattan on September 22, 1924. Named after the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, Pakistan’s national airline leased it in 1979 through the Pakistan International Airlines Investments Limited (PIA-IL).
The hotel closed its doors to guests in Dec. 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the tourism industry worldwide. In 2023, New York City (NYC) administration struck a $220 million, three-year deal with PIA to convert the hotel into a shelter, as per a report in The New York Times.
On Tuesday, Dar presided over a meeting of Pakistan’s federal cabinet committee on privatization in Islamabad to review the progress of the ongoing privatization initiatives, including that of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“Deputy Prime Minister urged the Privatization Commission to fast track the privatization process of the Roosevelt Hotel,” the report read.
Roosevelt Hotel and PIA are among the main entities Pakistan is pushing to privatize as part of economic reforms undertaken by Islamabad under its loan agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with a $7 billion extended funds facility agreed in Sept. being the latest such bailout.
The development comes at a time when an IMF mission is visiting Pakistan to review the South Asian country’s progress on key IMF conditions as part of the first review of the $7 billion bailout. A successful review will result in the release of around $1 billion to Pakistan as second installment under the program.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb last month said they were confident of meeting targets of the IMF program. Pakistan was able to build some trust with the IMF by completing a short-term, nine-month program last year.
Previous loan programs in Pakistan ended prematurely or saw delays after the governments at the time faltered on meeting key conditions. However, the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is making rigorous efforts to boost trade and foreign investment in order to revive the country’s economy and end its reliance on foreign loans.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan has urged Oman to expand the reach of its deep-water port and free zone by connecting it through Pakistan to Central Asia and China to enhance regional trade cooperation, Khan’s ministry said on Tuesday.
The statement came during Khan’s three-day official visit to Oman where he spent his first day in the industrial hub of Sohar to discuss bilateral trade, investment and industrial collaboration between the South Asian nation and the Middle Eastern state.
Pakistan aims to leverage its strategic geopolitical position to enhance its role as a key trade and transit hub connecting landlocked Central Asian republics with the rest of the world. In recent months, there has been a surge of visits, investment talks and economic activity involving Gulf and Middle Eastern nations.
During his visit to Sohar Port, the Pakistani commerce minister was given a detailed briefing on the port’s state-of-the-art facilities and its role as a major trade and logistics hub.
“He emphasized the potential for enhanced trade cooperation, particularly in expanding Sohar Port and Free Zone’s reach through Pakistan to Central Asia and China,” the Pakistani commerce ministry said in a statement, following Khan’s meeting with Omani officials.
Khan, who was accompanied by Pakistan’s ambassador to Oman Naveed Safdar Bokhari and other officials, was presented with an overview of the integrated free economic zone and industrial city, highlighting Sohar Port’s strategic role in handling 80 percent of Oman’s international trade and industrial activities.
The commerce minister urged joint ventures between Pakistani and Omani businesses during his meeting with industrialists and business leaders.
“The minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to boosting trade with Oman, particularly in the industrial and logistics sectors,” the commerce ministry said.
Later, Khan was taken on a city tour where he offered prayers at the iconic Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Sohar.
Last August, Islamabad invited Oman to invest in Pakistan’s agriculture, mineral and IT sectors through the Special Investment Facilitation Council, a Pakistani civil-military body aimed at attracting foreign investment.
The South Asian nation has been making efforts to boost foreign investment in order to reduce its reliance on foreign debt to support its fragile $350 billion economy. There has recently been a surge in economic engagements between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and other nations.