Well meaning incentive systems devised by international community for the socio-economic upliftment of developing countries may also end up as a tool in the hands of exploitative classes in these societies. Pakistan’s performance under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus...
China plans to change the mandatory retirement age of its citizens, as part of efforts to alleviate its pension fund crisis that has worsened in recent years due to an increase in the country’s ageing population. On 21 February, China’s...
Mining is recognised in Zimbabwe as a key sector for attaining National Development Strategy 1 (NSDI) goals. But indiscriminate mining has become a matter of concern in the country. China’s engagement with Zimbabwe in the mineral sector is very high...
It was not so long ago that global financial markets were hailed as the bringers of democracy. Yet between that time and now, a couple of crises showed that financial markets not only do not necessarily bring democracy to nations,...
For decades, first world countries have been engaged in the race to reduce taxation on higher incomes, businesses and capital: to give an example, between 1980 and 2020 the global average corporate tax rate dropped from 46% to 26%. This...
With the European Union (EU) delegation’s proposed visit to Islamabad this month for biennial review of its Generalized Schemes of Preference (GSP) Plus status drawing nearer, Pakistan’s worries are increasing. While its own efforts for progress in compliance are slow...
Pakistan’s reputed news daily Dawn called 2021 another energy- expensive year thanks to an exorbitant hike in the prices of gas, electricity, and fuel required to generate power. The country has been facing an unprecedented energy crisis. The frequent and...
Competitive connectivity is the nature of geopolitics in the 21st century. Rarely do nations fight militarily over borders. And even though war may erupt at any time, day-to-day geopolitics consists far more in the tug-of-war to control supply chains, trade...
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, spearheads the funding and construction of new infrastructure projects and trade networks across Eurasia and Africa. As of January 2021, 140 countries had joined the BRI....
Pakistan’s economy has not shown any signs of improvement in the last couple of years. All the PTI government led by Imran Khan has managed to do is to appoint new finance ministers, who feebly attempt to revive the economy....