South Asia Investor Review

Pakistan's journey to build a digital public infrastructure (DPI) began in March 2000 with the establishment of NADRA, the National Database and Registration Authority. The Gates Foundation defines DPI as follows: "DPI is a digital network that enables countries to safely and efficiently deliver economic opportunities and social services to all residents. DPI can be compared to roads, which form a physical network that connects people and provides access to a huge range of goods and services...... strong DPI has three foundational systems—identity, payments, and data exchange—that together can make life easier in important ways".  Digital Public Infrastructure. Source: World Economic Forum Transformational Impact: An article recently published on the World Economic Forum  website  sheds light on how Pakistan's digital public infrastructure is  transforming lives  in rural Pakistan. Here's how it begins:  "On a scorching day with temperatures soaring to 42 deg

Last few months have seen a grotesque display of obscene wealth in India, a country with well-documented levels of extreme  poverty ,  hunger  and  unemployment . Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani has splurged hundreds of millions of dollars on his son's wedding attended by top politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities and Ambani's fellow billionaires who have accumulated vast amounts of wealth in one of the world's most unequal countries.  Experts blame it on Mr. Modi's policies promoting crony capitalism.  Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, told the  BBC  that their ability to acquire large distressed companies, a growing appetite for mergers and acquisitions, and India's conscious industrial policy of creating "national champions via preferential allocation of projects and in some cases regulatory agencies turning a blind eye to predatory pricing". Indian Prime Minister Modi at th

Falling solar panel prices and soaring rates for grid electricity are driving a renewable power boom in Pakistan. A second factor spurring the growth in clean energy installations is the requirement of major western apparel brands for garments and textile manufacturers to switch to  clean energy . As a result, the solar panel imports in the country jumped from 2,800 MW in 2022 to 5,000 MW in 2023, in spite of stringent import controls imposed by the government. Solar imports are on track to reach 12,000 MW in 2024, according to solar installers. The total current installed generation capacity in Pakistan is around 40,000 MW. Grid electricity demand in Pakistan plunged in 2023 by nearly a sixth and a decline in 2024 would mark the first time in 16 years that annual electricity use has fallen consecutively, data from energy think tank Ember showed, according to  Reuters . Pakistan Solar Panel Imports. Source: PV Magazine Omar Malik, the CEO of Shams Power, a major solar system contractor

Pakistan's KSE-100 shares index topped 80,000 points on Wednesday as stocks climbed more than 600 points, making it the world's best performing stock market. The benchmark KSE-100 index has posted an annual return of 89% during FY24 (July 2023-June 2024) in PKR terms while in US dollar terms, the return was 94%, as the Pakistani rupee appreciated against the US dollar, according to  Pakistani media  reports.  This outstanding market performance is generally being seen as a consequence of a series of unpopular decisions  by the military-backed government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to carry out economic reforms to win the IMF support.  Pakistani Stock Market Outperforms Asian Peers. Source: Bloomberg Specifically, some analysts attribute the record increase in Pakistani share prices to multiple factors, ranging from the government's investor-friendly budget to the expectation of closing a longer term  IMF deal . Others believe the relatively low price-earnings (P/E) mul

The US government granted 16,320 immigrant visas to Pakistani nationals. Another 11,861 immigrant visas were given to Pakistanis by the Canadian government in the same period.  The total number of new Pakistani immigrants admitted as permanent residents in North America in 2023 was 28,181.  There are currently over a million Pakistanis living in North America. These include 687,942 Pakistanis in America as of 2020, according to the  US Census . And 303,260 Pakistanis residing in Canada as of 2021, according to  Statistics Canada . There are nearly 6 million people from India living in North America, according to government data.  Pakistani Diaspora in North America. Source: US, Canadian Governments Non-immigrant visas issued annually by the US government to Pakistani passport holders have almost doubled over the last 5 years, from 40,679 in 2018 to 80,852 in 2023, according to Gallup Pakistan . Meanwhile, immigrant visas issued annually to Pakistani citizens have increased by about 6

Many Pakistanis are singing effusive praises of India on social media platforms and racking up millions of views, according to a report in the Indian  mainstream media. These Pakistanis are boosting their earnings by feeding into the  Indians' delusions . The " India Today " report claims that, in the last 6 months alone, the number of channels using the hashtag #pakistanireactiononindia on YouTube increased by 1,000, and the number of videos by 5,000. Calling it an "industry" is an acknowledgment of the profit motive of the Pakistani YouTubers. These YouTubers steer clear of anything that even remotely challenges their unadulterated praise of India. For example, they make no mention of India ranking worse than Pakistan on income  poverty , hunger and overall  happiness . Nor do they talk about thousands of  Indian farmers  killing themselves every year.  Nor do they mention extremely high levels of  unemployment  in Modi's India.  Modi Claims "chhappan