Pak Affairs

Digital Pakistan Vision Zafrullah Saroya Digital technology has already made significant headways around the world. It is boosting industrial and agricultural productivity across the globe, revolutionising healthcare and education, and enabling smart young men and women with little cash in their pockets to create billion-dollar companies. An example of the wonders of this technology can be seen in sub-Saharan Africa. …

Fifth- Generation War A war within: harder to fight, hardest to understand (be lose the battle to win the war) Prof. Dr Munawar Sabir ‘Fifth generation war’ (5GW) has become a talk of the town in Pakistan, especially being its victim in a full-fledged manner. However, before understanding what a Fifth-Generation war is, it is important to understand the previous …

Why VAT is said to be a Good Tax? Bilal Hassan Since gradual adoption in France from 1948 to 1968, value-added tax (VAT) has rapidly spread across the globe, and is a leading source of tax revenue in many countries. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), some 166 countries operated VAT/GST up to 2016. With implementation …

Money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing in the Legal System of Pakistan Kamran Adil Introduction The Asia/Pacific Group (APG) On Money Laundering of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a Mutual Evaluation Report (hereinafter MER) on Pakistan in October 2019. It is an interesting read for anyone interested in understanding governance in Pakistan. It maps the trajectory of policymaking and …

Kartarpur Corridor “The certain pathway to all things that you want is through the corridor of joy,” Esther Hicks. On November 09, when confrontation and mistrust is the order of the day in the Subcontinent, Pakistan took a major step towards peace. On this very important day in the history of this region, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur …

Imran Khan’s Regional Peace Mission Shamshad Ahmad Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been on a mission for justice to the Kashmiri people, and for peace and tranquility in Pakistan’s troubled neighbourhood.  After his resounding performance in advocating the Kashmir cause at the UN General Assembly and placing the issue high on the global radar screen in September, Khan …

Hiccups and Challenges to CPEC How to turn them into opportunities? Hassaan Bin Zubair China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a US$62 billion project designed to resolve Pakistan’s energy deficit, improve connectivity and establish economic development zones and supporting social infrastructure that lay the foundations for subsequent economic growth. Challenges posed by the geographical environment, terror groups, political instability and the management …

Reaping the Demographics Dividend through Education Maaz A. Minhas Pakistan has a great demographic opportunity for rapid economic progress as its growing population enters adulthood. However, mass illiteracy and issues of undereducation can cripple the vast potential of the nation’s youth. How well the country is able to educate its public will determine its ability to maximize the benefits of …

               Well done Imran Khan!   Shamshad Ahmad In his address to the UN General Assembly on September 27, Prime Minister Imran Khan articulated Pakistan’s principled position on the Kashmir dispute while also raising three other issues of global importance, Environment, Corruption and Islamophobia. Earlier in his 14 August address to Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Prime Minister Imran Khan had …

Understanding the CFC Regime How foreign companies operating in Pakistan are regulated Bilal Hassan Pakistan has adopted the controlled foreign companies (CFC) regime by inserting section 109A into the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, (ITO) through Finance Act 2018 so as to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). Tax year 2019 is the first year for enforcement of the CFC …