South Asia Investor Review

Veteran Pakistani performing artist Zia Mohyeddin (1931-2023) passed away this week. May his soul rest in peace. Amen. Among the most enduring legacies he has left behind is the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) he helped establish in Karachi in 2005 with the support and funding provided by former President  Pervez Musharraf  (1943-2023). Zia Mohyeddin not only inspired generations of young Pakistanis aspiring to become performing artists, he also helped build  NAPA  as an institution where they are formally trained in film, television, dance, theater,  music  and other performing arts.   Zia Mohyeddin (1931-2023) Popular Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, a NAPA graduate who was inspired by Mohyeddin, told  Al Jazeera  the thespian’s death felt like he had lost his own father. “I don’t have enough words to express my words and sorrow at his passing. He helped me at every stage. His life was all about theatre, the all-encompassing pass...

First 9 months of fiscal 2010-2011 saw production of television sets jump 28.6% and automobile production increase by 14.6%, according to Economic Survey of Pakistan 2010-2011 . From July 2010 to March 2011, production of cars, light commercial vehicles and two and three wheelers grew by 16.4%, 20.5% and 12.6% respectively. These figures confirm the return of Pakistanis' appetite for consumer durables after a significant drop from 2007-2008 to 2008-2009. Automobile: 146,271 vehicles were produced in Pakistan in 8 months from July 2010 to February 2011, representing an increase of 9.2% y-o-y on the 133,918 units produced over the same period of FY09/10, according to figures from the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA). This consists of 85,924 units for passenger car production, 1,807 units truck production, 308 units bus production, 580 units jeep production, 12,000 units pick-up production and 45,652 units farm tractor production. Sales largely mirror production...