Category: Business

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Tech giant Facebook is planning to launch a digital wallet this year to allow users to store cryptocurrencies, a senior company executive said in a recent interview. David Marcus, head of Facebook´s crypto unit, told The Information news site that company leaders “feel pretty committed” to launch digital wallet Novi this year.

Marcus said he would have preferred to release Novi alongside Diem, a digital currency tied to the dollar that the company is also developing, but Diem’s timing was uncertain. “In theory, Novi could launch before Diem, but it would mean launching without Diem and that is not necessarily something that we want to do,” Marcus told The Information.

“It all depends on how long it is going to take for Diem to actually go live and that´s not something I’m personally looking after.”

In 2019, Facebook had said it planned to introduce a cryptocurrency that at the time was called Libra. The project, however, faced regulatory resistance over concerns about security and reliability. In December 2020 Libra changed its name to Diem and moved its operations from Switzerland to the United States as part of a “strategic shift.”

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Canada’s e-commerce giant Shopify Inc said on Tuesday it was partnering with TikTok to work on a feature that would let shoppers buy directly from the social media app.

Shopify merchants who have a TikTok business account would soon be able to add a shopping tab to their profiles for the first time ever, the company revealed in a blog post.

The pilot version is currently available to users in the U.S. and UK and the company will launch in additional regions in the coming months. Social media giants including Facebook Inc, Alphabet’s YouTube and Twitter have recently been investing heavily in shopping features to drive sales growth.

The companies are vying for a piece of the so-called social commerce industry, which relies on users’ ability to discover and buy products through social media apps and is expected to balloon to $50 billion from $36 billion in annual sales by 2023 in the United States according to research firm eMarketer.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp’s (1810.HK) second-quarter revenue rose a record 64% from a year earlier, it said on Wednesday, announcing the purchase of an autonomous driving startup as it prepares to expand into the competitive market.

Sales reached 87.8 billion yuan ($13.56 billion), up from 53.54 billion a year earlier and beating analyst expectations of 84.53 billion yuan as the company grew its share of the global smartphone market and expanded its ‘IoT’ product footprint.

Net income reached 6.32 billion yuan, up 87.4% year on year and above analyst expectations.Global smartphone shipments ranking rose to No.2, firmly establishing the Xiaomi brand in the premium smartphone market with its products.

According to the details , Xiaomi saw its second-quarter revenue rise a record 64% from a year earlier, it said on Wednesday, In the second quarter of 2021, Xiaomi’s total revenue amounted to RMB87.8 billion, representing an increase of 64.0% year-over-year; adjusted net profit for the period was RMB6.3 billion, an increase of 87.4% year-over-year. Total revenue and adjusted net profit both reached record highs in the quarter demonstrating the excellence of the business model and the robustness of its operations.

Mi’s smartphone business continued to exhibit significant growth in the second quarter of 2021, highlighted by record-breaking smartphone revenue and shipments. Smartphone revenue amounted to RMB59.1 billion in the reporting period representing an increase of 86.8% year-over-year. The Group’s global smartphone shipments reached 52.9 million units representing an increase of 86.8% year-over-year. According to Canalys, Xiaomi’s global smartphone shipments ranked No. 2 for the first time in the second quarter with a market share of 16.7%.

Meanwhile, the Group’s smartphone shipments in mainland China market also grew rapidly. According to Canalys, in the second quarter of 2021, our smartphone market share in mainland China rose to 16.8% from 10.3% in the second quarter of 2020, ranking third with a 35.1% year-over-year increase in smartphone shipments, the highest growth rate among major players in the market.

According to third party data, in the second quarter of 2021, the market share of Xiaomi’s smartphones in mainland China with prices between RMB3,000 and RMB4,000, RMB4,000 and RMB5,000, and above RMB5,000, witnessed a year-over-year increase. In the first half of 2021, the global shipments of our smartphones with retail prices at or above RMB3,000 in mainland China and EUR300 or equivalent in overseas markets exceeded 12 million units, surpassing the total of around 10 million units shipped in 2020.

Revenue from internet services reached record high, user base in key overseas markets continued to expand. Xiaomi’s internet services segment maintained its growth momentum. In the second quarter of 2021, revenue from internet services amounted to RMB7.0 billion, reaching a record high and representing an increase of 19.1% year-over-year.

The Group also continued to leverage its online channels overseas. In the first half of 2021, it sold more than 10 million smartphones via online channels in overseas markets, excluding India, representing an increase of over 60% year-over-year. Robust growth underpinned by relentless focus on technological innovation and talent development

Xiaomi remain steadfast in its pursuit of technology advancement which strengthens the backbone of its business. In the second quarter of 2021, Xiaomi recorded RMB3.1 billion in research and development expenses representing a year-over-year increase of 56.5%.

Lahore (NUT-Desk)

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced today that it will launch a new data portal SBP Asaan Adaad (SAAD) focused on economic development indicators.

The new portal will enable users to easily access, visualize and download the economic data covering monetary, the balance of payments and other sectors of the economy, SBP said on its Twitter handle.

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed  a recent investment worth $85 million by the world’s leading Venture Capitals (VCs) in a Pakistani tech start-up, Airlift. “We welcome the recent investment of 85 million USD by leading VCs of the world in Airlift, a company led by young Pakistanis,” the premier wrote on Twitter.

He said Pakistan had huge potential as the country is open for business. The premier expressed the government’s commitment to create opportunities for foreign investors. “My government is fully committed to creating opportunities,” the prime minister said.

Airlift, a Lahore-based online shopping delivery service, has raised $85 million in Series B financing, the largest single private funding round in Pakistan’s history. The financing is about twice the size of the largest private company IPO in the country’s history and the highest in the Middle East and North Africa region.

A pioneer in the recent wave of technology businesses, Airlift Technologies was started in Pakistan by local entrepreneurs for local populations in the recent wave of technology businesses.

Airlift operates a quick commerce service in eight cities including Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad in Pakistan. Users can order groceries, fresh produce, other essential items including medicines as well as sports goods from the Airlift website or app and have the items delivered to them in 30 minutes.

 

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

A new helpline has been launched for dairy farmers in Sahiwal to facilitate and provide them with a touchpoint for answering queries pertaining to dairy-related matters. According to a statement issued by FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan Limited (FCEPL), the Farmer Helpline (03041111804) was inaugurated on Friday.

The helpline will be operational from Monday to Friday, from noon till 2pm and it will be managed by dairy experts available to guide existing and potential dairy farmers in pursuit of business excellence.

While inaugurating the helpline, Commissioner Sahiwal Division Ali Bahadur Qazi, who was also the chief guest of the ceremony, said that Pakistan is the fourth largest milk producer in the world, therefore, there is an utmost need for an ever-increasing number of dairy farmers to be educated in terms following the industry’s standard operating procedures (SOPs).

“Farmers must be able to maximise yield so that the dairy sector’s contribution to the economy is enhanced,” he said. “As a result of this, we will eventually be able to export our dairy produce and bolster the national exchequer.”

“We are certain that more farmers will be inducted in a formal dairy net across the country which will have a significant impact on the economy at large.”

Head of Agri-Business at Friesland Campina Engro Pakistan Limited Sohail Sawwar said that the helpline has been established considering the need of our dairy farmers and is now operational on a national level with experts well-versed in local languages, other than Urdu, to guide them.

“The company brings 150 years of world-class dairy knowledge that its dedicated team of professionals is facilitating the dairy farmers with, especially those who are unable to commute and don’t have access to the right expertise and training; the ‘Farmer Helpline’ has thus been launched keeping these factors in mind,” he said.

Friesland Campina Engro Pakistan Limited (previously known as Engro Foods Ltd) is a Pakistani dairy company that is a subsidiary of the Dutch multinational corporative FrieslandCampina. The company operates two processing plants in Sukkur and Sahiwal, with its head office based in Karachi, Pakistan.

 

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

President Arif Alvi on Sunday disposed of 42 representations of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) pertaining to cases of bogus sales tax invoices, worth over Rs 1.2 billion. According to details, President Alvi, in view of the findings of the committees, disposed of the representations of the FBR pertaining to the cases in which full or partial refunds were paid fraudulently.

He directed the FBR for submission of a monthly implementation report to the Federal Tax Ombudsman’s Secretariat till the completion of the action on each case. He also ordered to afford an opportunity of show-cause and hearing to the official in case of any departmental action proposed against him, to satisfy the requirement of due process and the principles of natural justice.

The FBR had filed the representations with the President of Pakistan assailing the orders of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) passed in suo moto cases, in which bogus Sales Tax Refunds were reimbursed fully or partially by the delinquent officials of the FBR to the fake claimants. The huge scam was unearthed by FBR’s Directorate General Intelligence & Investigation-Inland Revenue and the Red Alerts were issued to the concerned field formations.

However, no action was initiated against the FBR officials and the fake claimants. The FTO on taking suo moto notice of the matter had issued directions to the FBR to investigate and identify the officials involved in the verification of the registered persons (RPs) and initiate disciplinary action.

In pursuance of the FTO’s recommendations and also the previous orders of the President of Pakistan passed in similar cases, the FBR constituted six fact-finding inquiry committees to deal with 130 suo moto cases relating to fake refund claims. The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the committees were meant to identify the wrong-doings and involvement of officials in each case, and fix responsibility. Also, these committees were tasked to prepare a draft charge sheet and statement of allegations with respect to each official and submit a report to the Board within 30 days.

 

Lahore (Nut-Desk)

In a landmark development, Pakistani startup Airlift has secured $85 million Series B financing with an aim to expand internationally, the firm said in a press statement.

A pioneer in the recent wave of technology businesses, Airlift Technologies was started in Pakistan by local entrepreneurs for local populations in the recent wave of technology businesses.

According to reports, Airlift operates a quick commerce service in eight cities including Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad in Pakistan. Users can order groceries, fresh produce, other essential items including medicines as well as sports goods from the Airlift website or app and have the items delivered to them in 30 minutes.

“Today, Airlift is announcing an $85 Million Series B financing led by some of the most iconic investors on the globe. Airlift’s $85m Series B financing marks the largest in the MENA region, co-led by Josh Buckley (Buckley Ventures) and Harry Stebbings (20VC),” the statement said.

Other major participants included Sam Altman (ex-President YCombinator), Biz Stone (Co-founder at Twitter/Medium), Jeffrey Katzenberg (ex-CEO, Disney), Taavet Hinrikus (Founder/CEO at TransferWise), and Seve Pagliuca (Co-Chairman, Bain Capital).

The financing is about twice the size of the largest private company IPO in Pakistan’s history and the highest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The firm said that the development would bring world-class investors to invest in Pakistan and would garner confidence that great technology and consumer products can be built in Pakistan.

“Airlift Express alone with its series B funding of $85 Million has added 5% to Pakistan’s FDI for the Fiscal year 2021. This financing round lays the foundations of a new dawn in Pakistan where technology startups alone can contribute to more than 10% of FDI in the upcoming years,” it added.

Speaking on the occasion, Usman Gul, Co-Founder and CEO of Airlift said that a year ago, Airlift halted operations on the transit service and diversified into last-mile grocery delivery.

“Today, our team closed $85m in Series B financing to scale our delivery platform across continents. With this financing, we as Pakistanis must return to where we started from — fighting against the odds and staying true to our core values of hustle, teamwork, resourcefulness, and bias to action. If this is the journey of a thousand miles, we have taken only the first step.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg has reported that the fund raised by Airlift is equal to the entire amount raised by Pakistani startups in the first half of the year. “It also eclipses the largest initial public offering by the nation’s private sector,” the report adds.

It added that the company now plans to expand its operations to 15 Pakistani cities by Dec 2021 and also increasing its core workforce to 400 by the end of next year.

 

Lahore (But-Desk)

Bolan holds a special place in the heart of many people from the 1990s and has been used by many for carrying big families or pick and drop services. Eight people including the driver can sit in the vehicle.

It is, however, being speculated that Pak Suzuki may discontinue Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) 800cc Bolan by next year, which will mark its 40^th year in Pakistan.

“Suzuki Bolan was launched as Hi-Roof in 1982/83,” said auto sector expert Usman Ansari, who runs an auto blog carspiritpk.com. “It was later renamed Bolan and its pickup version Ravi in 1991 when its local assembly started in 1991 at Karachi’s Bin Qasim plant.”

“Suzuki localised the names of all of its cars, including Margalla (Swift sedan), Mehran (Alto), Khyber (Swift hatchback), and Potohar (Jimny),” he added.

At least four independent sources, who are privy to the matter, said that the eleventh-generation 660cc Suzuki Every is on Pak Suzuki’s cards to replace the seventh-generation Bolan.

This was denied by the company, which is a listed entity and required by the law to first inform the stock exchange about any such plans.

“Yes, we have been told that the newest sixth-generation minivan Every will be launched next year and Bolan will be discontinued,” said an official at a Suzuki dealership.

An official of an auto part company also said that they have gotten orders from Pak Suzuki to manufacture parts that are supposed to be used in Every minivan.

In 2019, after 30 years of its launch, Pak Suzuki also discontinued Mehran, which was actually the localized version of Alto. Suzuki later launched Alto again in the year 2000 and manufactured older second-generation Alto (Mehran) and newer fifth-generation Alto side by side.

“But Pakistan officially adopted Euro-2 fuel standards in 2012, which forced production of Alto and Coure to be stopped as they cannot be upgraded to new standards. Mehran was upgraded with the EFI system and is adapted to Euro 2 standards,” said Usman Ansari.