HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, has produced over one million locally assembled handsets in Pakistan

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, has achieved the milestone of producing over one million locally assembled mobile phones in Pakistan in just 6 months after setting up the assembly unit in the country.

The company has partnered with Techno Pak Electronics (Private) Limited last year in setting up the assembly plant of Nokia phones in Pakistan which has invested an amount of $2 million in its factory & related channels in 2021 which generated over 500 skilled jobs so far.

Arif Shafique, Country Manager Pakistan HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, said, “Nokia Phones continue to be a favourite product among different ages of mobile phone users in Pakistan for the past many years. The demand for our handsets has been evident in the local market with the production of over one million units in a very short span of time.”

The plant capacity is to produce over half a million mobile phones per month and our aim is to assemble the complete range of Nokia phones from Pakistan. HMD Global has made a significant contribution to the economy through the transfer of technology to the local level, tax revenues to the national kitty, saving of foreign exchange and most importantly creating more local jobs.

“Opening the facility in Pakistan is not only an important business decision for us, but also a historic initiative as we continue to expand our global footprint with it. We aim to scale up our productions every month so that we will be able to meet the demand of our Pakistani consumers,” Shafique added. 

He expressed his hope that local authorities and regulators will continue to extend their full support to the industry for doing business and making investments in Pakistan.

The assembly plant of Nokia phones in Korangi, Karachi reached completion in December 2021. The unit produces various designs of mobile handsets with cutting-edge hardware tools, signature durability and user-friendly operating software.

Pakistan has an enduring association with Nokia mobile phones, which has translated into strong brand affinity. With Pakistan’s mobile phone penetration at 193 million and the mobile industry’s contribution to Pakistan is expected to reach USD 24 billion in 2023.

HMD reached the Top 5 position in more than 41 (up from 35 countries in 2020) countries around the world, measured by the combined mobile phone market volume market share in 2021 including Pakistan. Source: IDC Mobile Phone Tracker 2021.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) In light of World Oceans Day, TPL Corp collaborated with Daraz Pakistan for a Clean Up Drive at Clifton Beach.

TPL Corp’s collaboration for such a cause was encouraged by the commitment to collect and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. The initiative aimed to make waves by bringing together TPL employees from various companies to become an agent of change for the betterment of the planet.

Speaking on the occasion, Head of Marketing – TPL Corp, Anoshia Majeed said, “Clifton Beach sees a high influx of picnickers and beachgoers daily. These visitors tend to leave behind trash and plastic waste that pollutes the marine ecosystem. We at TPL Corp, are proud to take ownership of our environment and subsequently inspire others to follow suit”.

TPL Corp has always upheld the importance of promoting positive environmental practices in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). Staying true to its commitment, Group Head CSR, Mr. Sitvat Jamal commented, “Our responsibility towards society has been the driving force behind our numerous sustainability initiatives. Apart from climate action, we encourage gender equality and good health and wellbeing for our employees”.

Islamabad (Muhammad Yasir) In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), representatives of civil society at a consultation session
have called for accelerated efforts to meet these goals within the
stipulated timeframe as it would ensure sustainable progress.

They highlighted and discussed the bottlenecks, lacunas and challenges
in the budgets, policies and strategies towards achieving the SDGs.

Purpose of the consultation, organized jointly by Awaz CDS and UGOOD
in Islamabad, was to review the progress on government’s official
Voluntary National Review (VNR) through Peoples Scorecard and collect
input from the civil society organizations on the subject.

The event was part of the series of consultations which will be
organized countrywide to gather information from informed civil
society about the government’s performance on achieving the SDGs.

Around 35 members from civil society organizations (CSOs) participated
in the consultation, mostly from organizations led by women, youth,
transgender, people living with disabilities and minority groups. The
consultation was supported by Sightsavers Pakistan, VSO and A4SD.

In his opening remarks, CEO UGOOD Syed Ishtiaq Gilani appreciated the
participants for attending the consultation and hoped their valuable
findings would help in shaping the accurate data base on SDGs.

Participating in the consultations, Country Director Sightsavers
Munazza Gillani praised Awaz CDS-PDA and UGOOD for arranging such an
inclusive event representing all, PLWDs, trans genders, youth and men
and women.

She shared Sightsavers’ initiatives and collaborations with both CSOs
and government to make the entire SDGs process inclusive. She
emphasized on inclusion as well as availability of PLWDs disaggregated
data for all goals.

Chief Executive Awaz CDS Pakistan Zia ur Rehman gave a detailed
orientation about the event’s objectives and deliberations. He
informed the participants about AwazCDS and Pakistan Development
Alliance (PDA), on behalf of civil society, are in the process of
developing a spotlight report on SDGs parallel to government’s
official VNR report which it intends to present in the UN.

Similarly, the spotlight report which will be developed through
gathering information from people and depicting real, on ground
situation with regard to performance and progress of Pakistan on SDGs
at the same forum, he said.

Zia ur Rehman also apprised the audience that the process of data
collection was a two-pronged activity, an online survey which has been
uploaded on PDA website and a series of consultations in provincial
capitals and regions i.e. AJK and GB.

He shared that AwazCDS is engaging with civil society through people’s
scorecard to reach out to informed citizens who are unable to
contribute to national or official VNR report process. The spotlight
report will collect voices of citizens to achieving SDGs whereas the
official process relies on secondary data.

He expressed concern over the delay by the government in making the
VNR public and called for speedy completion of this process.

He gave a quick rundown of the online survey and the indicators which
would be used to assess specific goals CSOs are working on. He shared
the link and urged the audience to fill up the online survey as well.

An hour-long group work was also conducted where findings, views and
assessment of the discussants were presented. Overall they depicted
dismal picture of performance of the government on SDGs they are
working on. The information gathered in this consultation will be
combined with the findings of planned consultations and consolidated
spotlight report will be developed.

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Huawei Middle East Partner Summit is an annual event which focusses on celebrating the success of the partners across the Region. Huawei has always valued and appreciated the work our esteemed partners put into conducting business and focused on giving the credit where it’s due, when it comes to acknowledging the trust, effort and sheer hard work of our business partners and their resources.  Partners are the extended arms for Huawei and have brought quality in the business they conduct and will be an epitome of pride for Huawei.

Steven Yi, President Huawei Middle East and Africa Area stated on the occasion that;“2022 is a critical time in Enterprise Networking. Cloud-network Synergy is becoming essential for providing ubiquitous intelligence for every enterprise”.

Alaa Elshimy, Managing Director and Senior Vice President Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Middle East stated on the occasion that;

“Huawei hopes to grow the whole pie with its partner, enabling them to reap the most benefits from the new value chain. For this reason, our goal goes beyond winning alone: We aim to win together, with our partners and our customers”.

Outstanding partners from Pakistan were invited to the Middle East Partner summit including AppInSnap, CMC, Hew Horizon, Wateen solutions, Ptcl, Transworld to appreciate and celebrate their success of the past and to motivate them to keep up with amazing work to unlock new potentials and reach new heights of success.

Speaking of Success, AppinSnap has been the Excellent Huawei partner this year by unlocking Silver Partner status in just 5 months and Gold partner status in just 8 months. AppinSnap team have showed great support in Huawei and have complete trust in Huawei Products & Solution and their abilities to solve organizational tech challenges. AppinSnap has managed to secure some fascinating deals in the FSI sector of Pakistan.  The journey to emerge from an ISV to a competent SI for Huawei in financial services industry and commercial market and developing partner lead pipeline and with a very high conversion ratio is just amazing. Hence, winning themselves the “Pakistan Partner of the Year Award”.

Mr. Farhan, the CIO of AppInSnap stated on the occasion that;“I, being the CIO of AppinSnap, always believe that small opportunities are always the beginning of great achievements.  Like our trusted Supplier, Huawei; we strive to be undeniably good”.

Ziad Aslam CEO NERA Telecommunications stated on the occasion that;  “It is really appreciable how Huawei invests time in their partners and how hospitable their management is.  We had very productive networking at the event and especially the meeting with Mr. Gao will definitely help propel our business cooperation with Huawei”

Mehboob Ahmed Khawaja CFO CMC Pakistan attended and stated on the behalf of CMC that;

“Excellent and well organized event. Presentations covered a wide range of topics and  yet were all connected by our common business interests. We as CMC are so glad to associate with Huawei”.

NewHorizon’s COO, Qaiser Sarwar stated on the occasion that; “It was nice to be part of two insightful events hosted by Huawei, IP carnival was thoroughly exciting and the information regarding new products and fast delivery was the highlight of it. In CXO forum, it was interesting to know Huawei’s deep reach for partner eco system growth.

New Horizon is excited to take the part in growth of business with Huawei as integral part of our business plan”.

Huawei has the privilege to work with some great distributors as well and relies on the solid support they have always provided.  At the Middle East Partner summit, EZY technologies won the Pakistan Distributor of the year award and Mindware won the Emerging Distributor of the year Award.Both these organizations have played a key role in making the deals come to life with our partners and have always worked side by side with Huawei in achieving the business goals.

Lastly, 2021 Tiger program winners Kashif Ali (HCIE), Techaccess Pakistan and Firdous Khan, CMC  represented at the HC certification experience sharing session.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Philip Morris (Pakistan) Limited (PMPKL), in recognition of its efforts for workplace diversity and inclusivity, has won the Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Benchmark (GDEIB) Awards in three categories of Advancement & Retention, Job Design, Classification & Compensation, and Work Life Integration, Flexibility & Benefits.

The awards were assessed on merit-based scores on a scale of 1-5 including Best Practice, Progressive, Proactive, Reactive, and Inactive with a mission to help organizations become sustainable through inclusive cultural and behavioural change.

PMPKL has undertaken multiple initiatives to incorporate inclusivity and diversity in the organization, some of which include; Women’s Inspirational Networks, SmartWork, power hours, full mental health coverage, health screening checkups, enhanced parental leaves, and, routinely communicating with employees through internal podcasts and emails to motivate to take time off from work and focus on their mental and physical health. Additionally, PMPKL launched the ‘MakeYourComeBack’ Program, a 3-month project, for women who took a break and wanted to return to the workforce.

PMPKL has also been taking part in yearly audits by the Equal Salary Certification (an independent not-for-profit organization) since 2019, achieving the ESC annually and becoming the first multinational company in Pakistan to have ever achieved the certification. Furthermore, PMPKL has been recognized as a Top Employer 2022 for its excellence in people practices which reflects the company’s employee-centric approach, strong commitment, and an agile mindset.

Mirela Spagovic, Director People and Culture at PMPKL, expressing her gratitude at the recognition of the company’s efforts by GDEIB, said, “At PMPKL, we see diversity as a strength and are committed to building an inclusive culture and workplace. Therefore, our focus is on creating an environment where our employees have an equal opportunity to participate, use their skills, share their ideas and perspectives, and feel valued. We are continuously working to ensure a supportive place to inspire and empower employees and to achieve equity in workplace.”

Hutchison Ports Pakistan partners with The Hunar Foundation to fully sponsor technical trainings for the underprivileged youth.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Hutchison Ports Pakistan, the country’s deep-water container terminal, has announced a partnership with The Hunar Foundation to support the underprivileged young students in Pakistan. The partnership is part of the Hutchison Ports Pakistan’s CSR programme titled ‘Teach for Tomorrow’, which is in line with Hutchison Ports’ Dock School educational initiative and is designed to providing not only financial support but offering technical trainings to facilitate the youth to build their own future. 

The young aspirant students will be enrolled in different training programs including Electrical Technology, Mechanical Technology (Machinist & Welding), Heat, Ventilation, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration (HVACR) and Mechatronics (Robotics and Industrial Automation). The training program will last for a total duration of six months, starting from July till December 2022.

Commenting on this development, Capt. Syed Rashid Jamil, Head of Business Unit, Hutchison Ports Pakistan said, “Given the current economic slump and the issues our country has with low GDP growth despite a large youth population, developing competent workforces for tomorrow can serve as a concrete and long-term solution. Our partnership with The Hunar Foundation is in line with the same objective. Hutchison Ports Pakistan intends to create a sustainable change through helping young students’ education as a first step, as well as improving their livelihoods through the provision of work opportunities at our terminal.”

“Any part of technical training that might offer a young person with the means to earn a living for their family is crucial,” Abbas Akberali, Founding Board Member of The Hunar Foundation, said on the collaboration. “I am delighted that Hutchison Ports Pakistan is partnering with us to achieve our shared goal of imparting life and other skills to produce all-round, excellent human beings for society”, he added.

Hutchison Ports Pakistan’s initiative of supporting inclusive and equitable education of the students and later providing them internship opportunities at its terminal in the Engineering department, is truly a testament to its long-term commitment for a sustainable future.

Lahore (Nut Desk) Tetra Pak was recently honoured by the Swedish Embassy through a special invitation to co-host Sweden’s National Day event organized inside the embassy premises on June 9.  The Federal Minister for Climate Change, Senator Sherry Rehman, attended the event as a Chief Guest. The event followed an inspiring theme with the title of ‘Pioneer the possible’ which represented Sweden’s journey towards becoming the first fossil-fuel-free country and showcasing technologies and solutions by Swedish companies as leaders in innovation and sustainable transformation.

As a global company of Swedish origin operating in Pakistan, the event was a good opportunity for Tetra Pak to showcase its sustainability credentials driven by its guiding principle that a “package should save more than it costs”. Tetra Pak’s fundamental commitments driving its sustainability agenda were presented through a special display area. The Federal Minister for Climate Change, Senator Sherry Rehman, also visited Tetra Pak’s stall and was greeted by the company representatives to apprise her about Tetra Pak’s sustainability-related vision and goals. These included details pertaining to Tetra Pak’s announcement in 2020 to reach net-zero GHG emissions in its own operations by 2030, the use of 100% FSC Certified Paperboard in all packaging material, and their recycling success story in Pakistan.

Tetra Pak Pakistan’s local partnership with Green Earth Recycling started in 2014 and since then has been successfully achieving increasing recycling targets every year by collecting and recycling packaging waste into sellable products such as garden furniture, school desks, roofing solutions, and much more. Guests were also pleased to learn that in 2021, Tetra Pak Pakistan achieved a recycling rate of over 42% of its produced cartons, while the goal for 2022 is to increase this volume and recycle around 32,000 tonnes of beverage cartons.

The event was attended by representatives from several Swedish companies operating in Pakistan, including Tetra Pak, in addition to senior Government officials and Islamabad’s intelligentsia.

Lahore (Nut Desk) BankIslami, Pakistan’s leading Islamic financial institution, has proudly collaborated with PTV Sports and ARY ZAP app in the ongoing one-day international cricket series that is being played between Pakistan and West Indies from June 8 till June 12 in Multan. The bank is the presenting sponsor of Digital Live Streaming on the ARY Zap app along with being the co-sponsors of the series being broadcast by PTV Sports. The two teams will play three matches which begin at 4PM.

BankIslami President and CEO Syed Amir Ali said, “It is a pleasure for BankIslami to promote Pakistan via the telecast of the one-day international against West Indies. Pakistan’s soft image must be presented to the world and the Pakistan cricket team’s achievements are among the best that can be offered. This series will help Pakistan host other sports events and promote tourism.”

BankIslami is a leading Islamic financial institution that believes in authenticity, innovation and keeps its customers’ needs at its topmost priority.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The leading smartphone brand, TECNO is all set to unveil its most anticipated phone globally – the Camon 19 series. The launch is to take place above the hustle and bustle of the streets of New York City atop the iconic Rockefeller Center on June 14, 2022.

TECNO has also announced that it is among the first to make Android 13 beta available on its latest Camon 19 Pro 5G and shared plans to update to Android 12 on its CAMON 18 series. Moreover, the new Camon 19 series is reported to come with four different variants to match the unique style of the masses.

Apart from being the most anticipated smartphone of the year, TECNO CAMON 19 Series recently won the world-renowned iF Design Award 2022 where it was praised for its Stylish & innovative design and the camera module. It also won the MUSE Design Award 2022 for the Product Design of its Art Edition.

However, this is the first time a smartphone manufacturer will be unveiling a new product from the heights of the Rockefeller Center. TECNO has chosen the venue to be fitting for the new launch, indicating a big step forward with regard to its global reach and its focus on premium offerings by integrating fashion with innovative technology.

This is also the first time TECNO holds a global launch event in New York City or the United States ever. Based on its standing as the epicenter of art, fashion, and design, the “Big Apple” was selected as a backdrop for the event. Choosing New York City, TECNO announces the fact that how well it goes with the innovative, entrepreneurial spirit in all of us.

OPPO F21 Pro 5G achieves new highs of anticipation – Goes on Sale in Pakistan

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  The wait is finally over. The most awaited OPPO F21 Pro 5G is officially available to purchase online and in stores nationwide.

With fans swooning over its incredible design and fastest internet connection due to 5G enabled, 6nm processor, and camera capabilities, the OPPO F21 Pro 5G has been very well received since its launch.

With its exquisite style and unique Mega lens & Mega portrait feature, the phone has witnessed huge anticipation across the stores on its first sales day.

Powered by Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 695 5G Mobile Platform built on a 6nm process, slim and sleek design along with good battery life, OPPO F21 Pro 5G ensures an exceptional user experience. The phone has a powerful 4500mAh battery that comes with 33W SUPERVOOC Flash-charging technology. With 128GB of ROM and 8GB RAM, which can be extended by 5GB from OPPO’s RAM expansion, promising great power efficiency.

It comes in two stunning colors including Cosmic Black and the unique Rainbow Spectrum. It is available to purchase in stores and at ‘Daraz’ for a retail price of PKR 69,999/-.

With an aim to enhance the quality of calls and fast connection through VoNR technology and VoLTE, the phone is equipped with such features through which users can experience enhanced 4G+ performance with 5G as well if it is available in their respective location.

The new OPPO F21 Pro 5G handles data privacy and information security at levels that exceed industry standards. Smart Notification Hiding helps protect your privacy when using your phone in public areas.

The powerful camera system by OPPO is going to change the reel dynamics. The features include Bokeh Flare Portrait, Selfie HDR, AI Scene Enhancement, and AI Color Portrait. It features a 64MP High-Res Main Camera, a 2MP Macro Camera, a 2MP Depth Camera, and a 16MP Front Camera.

Moreover, browsing and consuming information has never been easier thanks to smart AI sensing algorithms and intelligent translation on OPPO F21 Pro 5G.

With the Air Gestures on ColorOS 12, you can mute a call with a swipe-up gesture or scroll up and down on pages within apps like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok without touching the device.

Over the years, the OPPO F series has made significant advancements, including the introduction of VOOC charging, improved camera capabilities, innovative design, and unique color options. 

With an incredible design, this new device combines cutting-edge technology with a vibrant style and chic design. The phone is available for purchase at and in stores nationwide.