South Asia Investor Review

The United Nations World Food Program has ranked Pakistan fourth among donor countries and sixth overall in 2024.  Among the largest 15 donors worldwide, the United States topped the list with $4.45 billion, followed by Germany ($995 million), the United Kingdom ($610 million), European Union ($593 million), private donors ($335 million), Pakistan ($228 million), South Korea ($203 million), France ($196 million), Sweden ($183 million), Canada ($166 million), Norway ($158 million), Japan ($155 million), UN Central Emergency Fund ($135 million), other UN agencies ($120 million) and Switzerland ($88 million), according to the  World Food Program .  Top Donors to World Food Program in 2024. Source: WFP The  World Food Program  says that 319 million people in 67 countries are facing acute hunger, and the scale of the current global hunger and malnutrition crisis is massive. "A total of 1.9 million people are in the grips of catastrophic hunger – primarily in Gaza and...

President Donald Trump's announcement of "reciprocal tariffs" has shocked the world. Nations and corporations were all expecting the US to increase tariffs but the scope and scale have caused severe tremors in the global economy.  There's a base level of 10% tariffs on all trading partners. Imports from China (54%), Vietnam (46%), Bangladesh (37%), Pakistan (29%), India (26%), Japan (24%) and the European Union (20%) are all subject to higher tariffs. Even the poor African nation of Lesotho (GDP: $2.5 billion) has not been spared. It is now subject to a 50% tariff on the jeans it exports to the United States.  Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs. Source: CNBC The charts showing President Trump's claimed tariffs on US imports by other countries have no resemblance to reality. For example, the US Commerce Department claims Pakistan imposes a 58% tariff on imports from the US. Pakistan's trade weighted average tariffs on the US goods were  7.3%  compared to 9.9% that ...

Pakistani students have received more EU-funded Erasmus scholarships and US-sponsored Fulbright scholarships this year than students from any other country in the world. These are fully-funded scholarships for recipients to study at universities in the European Union and the United States. Pakistan has also seen a post-pandemic surge  of student visas to study in Australia, the US and UK this year.  EU Scholarships. Source: EU Pakistan Among 2,835 students from 143 countries selected for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters program, Pakistani students rank at the top with 192 scholarships, followed by India 174, Bangladesh 140, Mexico 118, and Nigeria 109, according to an  EU tweet .  Within the EU, Germany is hosting 7,114 Pakistani students, according to  Erudera . Among the major countries of origin of foreign students in Germany are: China 40,055, India 33,753, Syria 16,712,  Iran 11,625, Russia 10,739, Italy 9,887, Cameroon 7,692 and Egypt 7,214. ...

Pakistan, a country that has contributed only 0.28% of the CO2 emissions, is among the biggest victims of climate change. The US, Europe, India, China and Japan, the world's biggest polluters, must accept responsibility for the  catastrophic floods  in Pakistan and climate disasters elsewhere. A direct link of the disaster in Pakistan to climate change has been confirmed by a team of 26 scientists affiliated with World Weather Attribution, a research initiative that specializes in rapid studies of extreme events, according to the  New York Times .  Top 5 Current Polluters. Source: Our World in Data Currently, the biggest annual CO2 emitters are China, the US, India and Russia. Pakistan's annual CO2 emissions add up to just 235 million tons. On the other hand, China contributes 11.7 billion tons, the United States 4.5 billion tons, India 2.4 billion tons, Russia 1.6 billion tons and Japan 1.06 billion tons.  Pakistan's Annual CO2 Emission. Source: Our World in Da...

Among 10 countries with the estimated net outflow of migrants exceeding 1 million over the period from 2010 through 2021, Pakistan saw 16.5 million migrants move overseas, the highest in the world, according to a report titled "World Population Prospects 2022" released by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs ( UN DESA ).  Pakistani Workers' Overseas Migration Data (2010-2021). Source: Bureau of Emigration In many of these countries with more than one million people leaving, the outflows were due to temporary labor movements, such as for Pakistan (net outflow of 16.5 million), India (3.5 million), Bangladesh, (2.9 million), Nepal (1.6 million) and Sri Lanka (1.0 million).  The report also said that India's population will surpass China's in 2023. Over half of the global population increase up to 2050 will be in just 8 countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines & Tanzania. Populatio...

Remittances from the European Union (EU) to Pakistan soared 49.7% in FY 21 and 28.3% in FY22, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. With $2.5 billion remittances in the first 9 months (July-March) of the current fiscal year, the EU ($2.5 billion) has now surpassed North America ($2.2 billion) to become the third largest source of inflows to Pakistan after the Middle East and the United Kingdom. Remittances from the US have grown 21%, second fastest after the EU (28.3%) in the first 9  months of the current fiscal year.  Country-wise Remittance Inflows in Pakistan. Source: State Bank of Pakistan Pakistanis in European Union:  The population of Pakistan-born migrants to European Union countries has been growing in recent years. With over 120,000 Pakistani migrants, Italy is the most popular destination for Pakistanis in the EU.  Italy is followed by Germany with 75,495 Pakistani migrants. Then comes Spain with 61,953 migrants, France 21,900 (2017), Sweden 11,674, De...

The US and its allies enjoy a significant technological advantage over China and Russia.  The Chinese are working hard to catch up but the West is not standing still. It is making huge investments in research and development to maintain this edge as it becomes increasingly clear that the outcome of the ongoing international geopolitical competition will largely be determined by technology.  East-West Comparison of GDP, R&D. Source: IMF (GDP), OECD (R&D) via WSJ In 2019, the United States and its allies invested $1.5 trillion in research and development, far outpacing the combined Chinese and Russian R&D investment of half a trillion USD.  This gap will likely narrow if the East's GDP continues to grow faster than the West's, allowing for higher investment in technology.  After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US, EU, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have made it clear that the Western allies can and will use technology sanctions to control the behavior ...

Who killed Pakistan's world famous sufi singer Amjad Sabri Qawwal last week? Why was he targeted close to home in MQM -dominated Liaquatabad neighborhood? Is the Sabri killing a failure of Sindh Rangers' Karachi operation? Who wants to see the Army-led Karachi Operation fail? India? RAW? TTP? PPP? MQM? Why? Why is India seeking full membership of NSG? Why has its effort failed so far? How did India succeed in getting the NSG waiver to allow nuclear trade in 2008? Did Pakistan's then ambassador Husain Haqqani recommend to then President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari to not ask China to oppose the India NSG waiver? Is the NSG waiver not enough to accomplish India's goal of growing both its civil and military nuclear programs? Why did the British voters vote 52% to 48% to leave the European Union? Do these British voters supporting Brexit have anything in common with Donald Trump supporters in the United States? Is this vote part of anti-establishment backlash again...

The European Union is Pakistan's largest trading partner, with annual trade worth $9bn. With this backdrop, it makes sense for President Musharraf to visit Europe on what is described by some as a "charm offensive". In spite of all the turmoil and recent bad news, Pakistani economy continues to be the bright spot often ignored by the media. This European visit is intended to get attention to Pakistan's economic performance and to attract European investment to help keep the economy on track for continued growth of 7-8% per year. In addition to meeting the political leadership in Europe, Mr. Musharraf has talked with the media and the business and investor community to reassure of them of progress on various fronts, including the restoration of democracy, the war on terror, and economic growth. On the political front, he reassured them the elections would be held on the scheduled date and would usher political stability in the country. He further said that nobody would...