News Update Times

Lahore – JS Bank and Careem have notched up a remarkable achievement by creating over one thousand entrepreneurs in the short span of 6 months. Under the scheme of Prime Minister Youth Business Loan (PMYBL), Careem & JS Bank have successfully managed to turn 1,000 Careem Captains into entrepreneurs through PMYBL loans disbursed through JS Bank.

Regarding this achievement Junaid Iqbal, MD Careem Pakistan said, “Pakistan needs entrepreneurs and creating 1,000 new jobs is just one of the contributions Careem is making to Pakistan’s economy. We strive to ensure our Captains are able to start their journey towards financial sustainability and our goal is to continue to ensure opportunities for the maximum number of people. We are very proud of the scheme and how far we have come in such a short amount of time.”

Basir Shamsie, Deputy CEO JS Bank, said, “JS Bank launched this scheme in an effort to provide a fair opportunity to run their own business and be entrepreneurs. We strongly believe that public-private partnerships, backed by technology solutions, create a strong shared economy that helps spread the benefits of entrepreneurship to all its people. In order to further strengthen our proposition for the deserving Captains of Careem, JS Bank has also collaborated with the Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation to provide them with an additional equity support.”

Mudassir Sheikha, Co-Founder Careem mentioned it’s a pleasure to have collaborated with JS Bank for this great initiative. He shared the history and vision of Careem along with appreciating the collaboration mechanism developed by JS Bank to provide a viable solution to promote entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

Speaking at the occasion, the Honorable Governor Sindh Muhammad Zubair praised the efforts made by Careem in helping bring a revolution in the transportation industry. He specially praised the efforts of Mr. Mudassir Sheikha, co-founder of Careem Networks, for his vision and his team’s seamless execution.

Careem Captains clearing a performance criterion are eligible to apply for loans through JS Bank to purchase their own vehicles and drive independently for Careem. The program has proved to be immensely popular with Careem Captains and has already contributed in over Rs. 1 Billion in the automotive industry through purchase of cars.

Prime Minister Youth Business Loan (PMYBL) is a program initiated by the Government of Pakistan, aimed at socio-economic development of the country’s youth. Under this agreement, JS Bank is offering subsidized loans at a 6% mark-up rate, in an effort to facilitate entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

Lahore –  In a night of excellence, Oman Air Cargo, one of the leading air cargo carriers in the region, recently hosted its second Oman Air Cargo Awards. The event was held to recognize the outstanding achievements among the local cargo agencies, also to acknowledge the company’s close partnership with the Public-Private establishments.

At the event, Mohammed Al Musafir, Senior Vice President, Oman Air Cargo – Commercial, expressed his highest appreciation and gratitude to the partners for their confidence and loyalty to Oman Air. He then thanked the attendees for their constant support to the company.

“Oman Air will always be on track to achieve its goals and aspirations, along with becoming an industry standard-setting airline. The national carrier of Oman continues to extend full support and backing to its partnership network,” Al Musafir said.

Oman Air Cargo took the opportunity to thank its core staff for their relentless commitment, dedication, and eager attitude to achieve year-on- year success amid industry challenges and increased competition.

“Oman Air Cargo Awards” is a pan-Oman forum to recognize the success of the local Air cargo industry that operates in partnership with Oman Air cargo division. As the airline looks to strengthen its presence in the market, the awards are a great testament to our partners who work so hard for our clients world-wide, also comes as part of continuous professional development.
Winners at the 2017 Oman Air Cargo Awards are as follows: “Agency of the Year”: National Travel & Tourism (NTT), “Highest Growth Year-on-Year”: Eagle Freight Express, “Highest Yield Return”: Reliance Freight Systems, “Partnership Appreciation”: Oman Air SATS, “Partnership Appreciation”: Directorate General of Customs – Royal Oman Police, “Partnership Appreciation”: Directorate General of Airport Security – Royal Oman Police.

With a soon to be completed state-of-the art cargo handling facility at its hub in Muscat International Airport, and a 100% cloud based cargo platform, Oman Air Cargo offers access to over 150 online and offline destinations across the globe.

LAHORE  –  Cheetay.pk has established a concrete base in the domain of logistics and delivery in Lahore and is actively venturing into multiple business categories. Having secured $1.1 million in Series A-1 funding Cheetay.pk is expanding business operations by launching diverse business categories.
Being on track to branch out into multiple categories Cheetay.pk’s next aim is to collaborate and partner with multinational companies to establish a brand that ensures trust, quality and reliability. Cheetay.pk has collaborated with Pepsi as its official beverage partner. Since Pepsi has entered the domain of digital retail and is now actively promoting sales through digital stores it chose to partner with Cheetay.pk because of the market share it has acquired in Lahore.
According to Ahmed Khan, CEO of Cheetay.pk, “Venturing into multiple categories has always been our business development approach and goal, similarly reaching out and affiliating with trusted multinational brands to create brand equity, recognition and awareness is what we intend to do now.
By associating and joining forces with trusted names these corporate partnerships will not only help in creating a positive image but will translate into additional customers and will pave the way for greater opportunities”.

Karachi – Former Governor State Bank and eminent economist, Dr. Ishrat Husain said on Sunday that Thar Coal projects will turn the currently underdeveloped district Tharparkar into a developed region.“The Pakistan government and other corporate sector organizations should adopt the social development model devised and implemented by the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) in Thar to help the uplift of other lagging areas of the country,” he added.He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of a Thar Foundation-established school in the village Abban jo Tarr, Thar Coal Block II. A handicrafts center was also inaugurated at Thar Block II, Model House by Ameena Saiyid, head of the Oxofrd University Press.The center has been established by Thar Foundation to empower the Thari women economically by removing the middleman factor. Dr. Ishrat Husain lauded Thar Foundation’s social development model saying, “We could do away with illiteracy, poverty, and hunger if Pakistan’s private sector adopted the development model in place in Thar.”He said that mining and power projects are comparatively an easy job when juxtaposed with the area’s social and economic uplift, which are very well handled by the SECMC here. Dr. Husain added, “was quite a satisfying factor in the entire project.”Prior to the inauguration sessions, SECMC Chief Shamsuddin Ahmed Shaikh gave the delegates a comprehensive briefing on the mining and power projects as well as the community development program carried out from the Thar Foundation’s platform.

The delegates visited the SECMC’s mining project, Engro Powergen Thar Limited’s under-construction 660MW power plant and model house for the resettlement village before witnessing the school inauguration at village Abbas jo Tarr. The community welcomed the guests by presenting traditional Ajrak and Loee.

Head of Oxford University Press Pakistan Ameena Saiyid said that the cultural handicrafts made by the Thari women are commendable and that we should promote them at all potential platforms.

“SECMC’s bid to empower women of the area, socially and economically, in the form of women dump truck driving program is innovative and exemplary,” Saiyid said after engaging with the trainees of the program on the field.

Speaking at the occasion, SECMC chief Shamsuddin Ahmed Shaikh reiterated, “The social and economic uplift of Tharparkar is part of their duty and not something as favour.” “Provision of free quality education for children, safe drinking water for communities, and modern-day health facilities for constituting our commitment,” Shaikh asserted.

The delegation visiting the Thar Block II also comprised prominent analyst Dr. Huma Baqai, President Meezan Bank, Irfan Siddiqui, Chief Executive Officer Habib University Parvez Ghias, senior journalist Murtaza Solangi, columnist Zofeen T. Ebrahim, Masood Akhtar, former diplomat Alam Brohi, Aijaz Nizamani and among others.