South Asia Investor Review

The F-1 visas for Pakistani students are soaring amid a global decline, according to the US government data. The US visas granted to Pakistani students climbed 44.3% in the first half of Fiscal Year 2025 (October 2024 to March 2025) with warming relations between the governments of the two countries. The number of visas granted to Indian students declined 44.5%, compared to  20% fewer US visas given to students globally in this period.  The number of US visas granted to Pakistani students in the current year is on track to reach 5,800 which will be an all-time high.   F-1 Student Visa Trend For Pakistan 2018-2025. Source: ApplyBoard In Pakistan, 3,322 F-1 student visas were granted in fiscal year 2023. The number of F-1 visas issued in the first half of fiscal year 2025 was 1,928, an increase of 44.3% compared to the same period in the previous year. While the final numbers for fiscal year 2025 are not yet complete, Pakistan is on track to issue a high numb...

Recent data shows that there are nearly 10,000 Pakistani students attending colleges and universities in Germany. This figure is second only to the United Kingdom which issued over 35,000 student visas to Pakistanis in 2024. The second most popular destination for Pakistani students is Australia which is hosting nearly 24,000 students from Pakistan as of 2023, according to the  ICEF Monitor .  Top Countries of Origin For International Students in Germany 2024. Source: Study in Germany Here's a list of the top 15 countries of origin of foreign students in Germany in 2024:  India 49,008 China 38,687 Turkey 18,084 Austria 15,379 Iran 15,159 Syria 13,379 Russia 10,593 Italy 10,154 Ukraine 9,914 Pakistan 9,873 Egypt 8,060 Morocco 7,398 Tunisia 6,852 Cameroon 6,789 France 6,759 This year, Pakistani students won 114 Erasmus Mundus EU Scholarships, the highest number in the world. This makes Pakistan the top country receiving these scholarships for t...

The average annual household earnings of  Pakistani-Americans  are $149,178, according to the  latest update  issued by the United States Census Bureau for 2022. The update estimates the median income of 132,958 Pakistani-American households at $106,281. Average is calculated by adding up all incomes and dividing it by total number of households. Median income level divides the top 50% of families from the bottom 50%.  It shows that Pakistani-American household incomes are roughly at par with the Asian-American households' median of $104,646 and average of $149,363. The highest income ethnic group in the US are Asian  Indian households  with a median of $152,341 and average of $197,732.  Asians are significantly richer than Whites (mean $78,636, average $112,415) and African Americans (mean $52,238, average $76,888). The word "alone" in the labels in the following table excludes mixed race households.  South Asian Americans Households. Source...

Interest in studying in Europe  is growing in certain key markets like Pakistan and Bangladesh in particular, according to a recent report on foreign students coming to Europe. Although India generates the largest share of relative demand, this fluctuates drastically and has gradually declined overall in recent years, the report adds.   Interest in Bachelor's Programs. Source: StudyPortals.com The chart above shows the top origin countries for interest in Bachelor’s programs in Europe, as well as the evolution of that interest over the last four years.  Interest in Bachelor's Programs. Source: StudyPortals.com Bangladesh and Pakistan also show strong demand in Master’s programs, alongside students in Turkey and Iran. The report reveals widening European interest and shift towards STEM .  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,...

Top European Research Labs have announced the selection of three teams of high school students-- one each from Pakistan, the Netherlands and the United States-- to conduct accelerator beam experiments at CERN and DESY.  They won the Beamline for Schools (BL4S), a physics competition open to secondary school pupils (Grade 9 to 12) from all around the world. Pakistani and US teams will travel to CERN, Geneva, in September 2023 to perform the experiments that they proposed. The Dutch team will be hosted by DESY in Hamburg, Germany. Beamline for Schools Competition Sponsored by CERN, Switzerland and DESY, Germany This year's winning teams have been picked by a committee of CERN and DESY scientists from a shortlist of 27 particularly promising experiments. All the teams in the shortlist will be awarded special prizes. In addition, one team will be recognized for the most creative video and 10 teams for the quality of physics outreach activities they are organizing in their local communi...

Pakistan's  nuclear weapons  program gets a lot of global attention. But the country also has a large and growing civil nuclear program which has added over 3,500 MW of low-carbon electricity to the national grid. It also supports a variety of agricultural, biological and medical applications. The program relies  particularly on the expertise and contributions of nuclear scientists trained at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) founded in 1965 by Dr. Ishrat Husain Usmani.  Dr. Usmani graduated from Aligarh Muslim University and later did his doctoral research at London's Imperial College under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Niels Bohr. The entire civilian nuclear program in Pakistan operates under the International Atomic Energy Agency's safeguards. PINSTECH, Pakistan Pakistan Nuclear Science and Technology History:    Pakistan started its nuclear program in the 1950s under the United States’ “Atoms for Peace” program, whi...