News Update Times

FRANKFURT: Germany car giant Volkswagen said Monday it would set up six battery factories in Europe by 2030 as it ramps up its shift into electric vehicles. We are “planning to operate six gigafactories on our own and in collaboration with partners,” said CEO Herbert Diess of the plants, which the group said would have have a total capacity of 240 Gigawatt hours. The group also announced plans to significantly expand charging stations in coming years. “We will multiply the number of fast charging points in Europe by a factor of five over the next four years,” said Diess. Cooperation deals have been agreed with Britain´s BP, Spain´s Iberdrola and Italy´s Enel, VW said.

The charging stations set up in conjunction with partners are aimed at covering a third of European e-mobility demand by 2025. Volkswagen group, which includes brands from Audi to Seat to Porsche, has ploughed more than 30 billion euros ($36 billion) into e-mobility in order to comply with stricter environmental rules in the EU. Its eponymous flagship brand said in March that it was aiming for electric vehicles to account for 70 percent of its European sales by 2030. The VW brand also said it would launch at least one new battery-powered model each year between now and 2030. VW´s all-electric ID.3 became the second best-selling car in Europe last December, and the brand has US e-mobility pioneer Tesla in its sights with its 2021 ID.4 SUV model. Tesla has upped the pressure on major German carmakers such as Volkswagen in recent years with its plans to open a manufacturing plant outside Berlin next July.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Martin Dow Group announced today that it has named Nutshell Communications as their strategic PR partner to spearhead stakeholder relations and brand communications for the Pakistan market.​ (Sitting on right) Ms. Anum Jawed Akhai, Group Director Business Growth & Strategy – Martin Dow Group, and (Sitting on left) Ms. Sadaf Mahmood, Chief Operating Officer -Nutshell Communications signing the agreements in the presence of the management team from both the organizations.  (Standing in the back from Right to Left) Mr. Rustom Boga, Director Group Corporate Communications – Martin Dow Group, Usman Altaf, Group Head Legal & IP – Marting Dow Group, Mr. Javed Ghulam Mohammad, Group Managing Director – Martin Dow Group, Mr. Ali Akhai, Chairman – Martin Dow Group, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Founder & CEO – Nutshell Communications, Amer Pasha, Chief Strategy & Planning – Nutshell Communications, Ms. Sanya Shahid, Head of Customer Experience & New Initiatives – Nutshell Communications.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Bank Alfalah and State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan have recently signed an agreement with an aim to maximize customer facilitation and extend Bank Alfalah’s portfolio of services.

Under this agreement, Bank Alfalah is opening its banking network of over 700 branches across Pakistan for cash management of premium and loan Installments on behalf of State Life Insurance Corporation. SLIC is among Pakistan’s largest insurance policy providers, and this facilitation will go a long way to support its customers in making easy and smooth payments.

Mr. Atif Bajwa, President and CEO Bank Alfalah represented the Bank, and was joined by Dr. Muhammad Sohail Khan Rajput, Chairman of State Life Corporation of Pakistan. Senior management from Bank Alfalah and State Life were also present at the ceremony.

This partnership furthers Bank Alfalah’s vision to continually meet and exceed the financial needs of its customers through the introduction of value added products and services.

Speaking on the occasion, President and CEO of Bank Alfalah Atif Bajwa said, “This is a great milestone that we have collectively achieved, and it is an exceptional honour for Bank Alfalah to be further cementing our relationship with State Life. This agreement enables corporations like State Life to benefit from value added products and gain efficiencies in cash management. We expect that this will create better returns for SLIC as well as allow better service to its end customers. We are entering a new world where transactions, payments and collections have to move with greater speed, and the introduction of such products will serve to effectively meet these needs.”

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Meezan Bank, the Best Bank in Pakistan and Master Group, pioneer of foam industry in Pakistan have recently joined hands to streamline transaction banking services for Master Group. Under this agreement, Meezan Bank, through the provision of its state-of-the-art online banking solution, named eBiz+, will enable Master Group to fully automate its customer collections and supplier payments, catering to every client’s needs with a configurable and intelligent platform. The partnership will focus on creating value for Master Group by serving as an end-to-end transaction banking ecosystem based around an array of services covering working capital cycle, standardized reporting, greater safety and efficiency as well as world-class cyber security – all in one place, via eBiz+ – an integrated solution.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Abdullah Ahmed – Group Head, Corporate & Institutional Banking, Meezan Bank and Mr. Shahzad Malik – Managing Director, Master Group. Also present at the occasion were Senior Executives of both organizations including Mr. Saqib Ashraf – Head of Transaction Banking, Meezan Bank, Mr. Amir Mushtaq Butt – Director Finance, Master Group and others.  

Mr. Abdullah Ahmed, while speaking at the occasion said, “As Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank, Meezan Bank has sophisticated Transaction Banking services including cash management. We are thrilled to partner with Master Group as a trusted collaborator to automate their business/banking processes while ensuring operational integrity resulting in business efficiency with utmost security.”

Meezan Bank is capitalizing on the strong trend in the banking industry towards digital banking with more and more clients preferring more specific internet banking solutions. Mr. Shahzad Malik commended the Bank for bringing forth operational efficiency in its payments & collection process.