Author: Sohail Shahid

Miniso expects to ramp up its operations in Pakistan by acquiring Cheezmall subsidiary “ToSharing” for a valuation between $5 million to $7 million. This acquisition was finalized last month right after the parent company Cheezmall raised funding of CN¥100 million ($14.97 million) in Series A round. Tosharing.com or Tosharing.pk makes space for a great number of products and a lot from Miniso itself. Regarding to fanbase, judging from the website it primarily has mobile users and around 37K+ followers on Facebook. Miniso will be investing in Tosharing in 2 phases. In the first phase, it will acquire the company and operations whereas…

MedznMore the Pakistani health tech startup has attracted capital of $2.6 million in seed funding. MedznMore is Karachi based startup, and it aims to address problems with respect to pharmacy retail in Pakistan with special focus on selling medicines; in addition, identifying and creating awareness about fake medicines. This seed funding is one of the largest for any startup in Pakistan, and it will help the founders in realizing their vision of delivering medicine right at customer’s doors. The founders are Asad Khan and Saad Khawar. Asad brings in prior experience as a General Manager from Careem while Saad is…

Microsoft is working on a futuristic and intelligent Surface Pen. The Surface Pen is going to be the biggest achievement for every Microsoft Surface device that we have seen in recent years. It happens to be an area with the greatest innovation. According to the latest patent released by the company, further work will be continued on the Surface Pen to make it smarter than ever before. Entitled Stylus for Zero Force Activation, the patent details a system that can improve the Surface Pen’s ability to determine when to switch to inking mode. According to Mayank Parmer, the new and…

PakistaniStores.com and Telemart.pk laid the Foundation of (Data-Driven E-Commerce) in Pakistan. PakistaniStores.com, the leading price comparison and lead generation engine; and Telemart.pk, a leading e-commerce platform recently signed an agreement to help nurture the local e-commerce industry through market research and mutual exchange of information. For online customers, this partnership will aid them with better pricing, exclusive discounts, and a highly personalized shopping experience; the partnership mainly desires to help users efficiently find the products they want at the best prices from reliable sellers. In addition, both parties are focused on improving online customer experience based on data. User data…

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Commerce and Industry, Abdul Razak Dawood on Monday reaffirmed the commitment to enhance trade and bilateral economic relations with Afghanistan in order to power regional integration. While briefing the 17th meeting of the Standing Committee on Commerce, under the Chairmanship of Syed Naveed Qamar, in the Parliament House on Monday, he said that the government preferred enhancing regional trade and connectivity for connecting the whole region through improvement in Pakistan and Afghanistan transit trade, the adviser said. Dawood stated that the government wishes to resolve all trade-related disputes with Afghanistan to validate the trade between two…

The rupee devaluation against the dollar has increased the cost of used clothes import, said Pakistan Second Hand Clothing Merchants Association (PSHCMA) Secretary-General Usman Farooqui. In a letter written to Commerce Advisor Abdul Razak Dawood, Farooqui asked for the curtailment of duties and taxes on imports of used clothing to bring down the increased cost. He said one dollar has reached over Rs163 as compared to Rs160 ahead of Eid, making imports costlier. The poor people cannot afford the high price of used clothing, which has been rising due to soaring cost of imports on account of rupee depreciation, Farooqui…

The federal government of PTI on Saturday decided to pass on the benefit of reduced oil prices to consumers from Monday. The energy ministry warned the ECC that a reduction in petroleum prices would create a major supply disruption, which may take weeks and months to normalize as stocks with most of the OMCs were abnormally low. A government official told that the ECC did not accept the proposal and decided that the benefit of reduction in prices should be utilized for the benefit of consumers. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) proposed a reduction of Rs7.06 per litre…

In the midst of the global economic recession due to the covid-19, foreign investors have withdrawn an estimated USD 26 billion from emerging Asian economies and over USD 16 billion out of India, according to a Congressional report, increasing concerns of a major economic recession in Asia, independent Congressional Research Center said in its latest report on global economic effects of Covid-19. Foreign investors continued to flee the Indian equity space even in the month of April, though the number of net outflows dropped substantially compared to the preceding month. They sold net assets worth $904 million throughout the month.…

KARACHI: Senior and Punjab Food Minister Abdul Aleem Khan stated that as per the standards of cleanliness, quality food is a major right of the residents and there can be no trade-off on tidiness and standard of the kitchen. He communicated these perspectives on Monday while conversing with a deputation of the Lahore Restaurants Association steered by its Chairman Mahmood Akbar while President Kamran Sheik, Secretary Ahmed Shafiq, and Finance Secretary Nisar Chaudhry were likewise present in the gathering. The Association pled for the instant opening of restaurants like different businesses, to which Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan guaranteed thoughtful…

KARACHI: In the wake of technological revolutions, new startups coming up with unique products. In addition, they are bringing advancements by integrating technology into the financial sector which is a pivotal part of the growth of any economy. Pakistan is also stepping up its efforts in need to go along with the global market. Here are some of the fintech revolutions that Pakistan needs to learn from. Mountain of paper According to The Economist, the trade financing industry is notoriously bogged down by a complicated network of institutions. It’s hampered by bottlenecks, as the majority of transactions are funneled through…