Category: 3. Business

Alibaba.com, a leading global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform, today celebrated the nation’s top e-commerce businesses at the KEL Awards 2025 ceremony while launching its enhanced Trade Assurance 2.0 service in Pakistan. The event brought together key industry leaders, including Omer Khalid, Vice President of SCCI and Sayyed Ahmad Masud, Project Director of the National Incubation Center Islamabad, to honor local exporters who have leveraged Alibaba.com to transform their operations and expand their businesses globally.

The launch of Trade Assurance 2.0 was a key highlight, introducing major enhancements designed to empower Pakistani exporters. This updated service directly addresses their needs by offering reduced transaction fees, free withdrawals, higher order and credit limits, and more payment options, empowering local businesses to conduct international trade with greater efficiency and security.

“Pakistan represents a high-potential supplier market for Alibaba.com, boasting robust production capabilities and a diverse range of product categories that capture substantial global buyer interest. To capitalize on this potential, we have deliberately upgraded Trade Assurance 2.0 to provide suppliers with the essential tools to overcome challenges related to cost and credit. This service is designed to enable Pakistani businesses to secure higher-value orders and drive substantial growth in their global operations.” said Summer Gao, Head of Global Supply Chain Services at Alibaba.com.

Honoring Pakistan’s Top Global Exporters

The KEL Awards 2025 showcased the remarkable achievements of six Pakistan’s top e-commerce finalists, each delivering insightful presentations on the strategies that fueled their success on the Alibaba.com platform. The ceremony honored top performers across a wide range of sectors, from apparel to surgical goods, with winners recognized in two categories, Global Trade Innovators and E-commerce Export Masters.

This year’s top honors of Alibaba.com Pakistan Key E-commerce Leader were awarded to Mr. Muhammad Usman Humayun from Gray Rocks Enterprise, Mr. Haider Ali from IMPEX Pakistan, and Mr. Muhammad Azam Rahmat from Mangoes Fashion. Additionally, the event featured a People’s Choice Award for 2025, which was presented to Mr. Muhammad Wasim from Blue Hands International based on audience voting. The finalists were evaluated by a distinguished judging panel with the challenging mission of selecting the winners including, Omer Khalid (Vice President of SCCI), Sayyed Ahmad Masud (Project Director of National Incubation Center Islamabad), Usman Chughtai (Key E-commerce Influencer), Berry Ma (Head of Pakistan Business, Alibaba.com), Summer Gao (Head of Global Supply Chain, Alibaba.com).

Berry Ma, Head of Pakistan Business at Alibaba.com, emphasized the significance of the awards, stating, “The Pakistan KEL Awards are more than just a competition. They’re a powerful celebration of the ingenuity and resilience of Pakistan SMEs. We’re honored to provide a platform that enables exporters to not only succeed but also inspire. These finalists prove that with the right tools, Pakistani businesses can push the boundaries of global trade and seize opportunities in the global marketplace.”

One of the six finalists, Muhammad Azam Rehmat, from Mangoes Fashion shared a compelling story that underscores the transformative power of ambition and innovation in e-commerce. As a farmer’s son, began his two-person garments company, Mangoes Fashion, in 2020. Despite having local manufacturing expertise, breaking into the competitive global market felt nearly impossible without a trusted channel to connect with international buyers. The solution came in 2021 when the company joined Alibaba.com. By leveraging the platform’s ecosystem and securing a Verified tag, Mangoes Fashion gained the credibility and visibility needed to transform its small-scale operation into a global venture, providing a direct channel to buyers worldwide.

The results were transformative and rapid. Mangoes Fashion achieved over 200% annual growth, securing landmark deals including a single order worth $62,545 and six subsequent orders of $20,000 each. Today, what started as a small team exports apparel to key markets across the United States, Europe, Australia, and Canada, proving that local businesses can leverage digital tools to achieve significant global success. This impressive growth was not only a highlight of Azam’s entrepreneurial journey but also serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs in Pakistan to harness technology in the pursuit of their dreams.

Finalists in the Alibaba.com KEL Award 2025 Finale include:

● Mr Muhammad Wasim from Blue Hands International

● Mr Haider Ali from IMPEX Pakistan

● Mr Usman Asif from Moytei Sports

● Mr Muhammad Azam Rahmat from Mangoes Fashion

● Mr Imran Iqbal Bajwa from Producing Peak

● Mr Muhammad Usman Humayun from Gray Rocks Enterprise

The speculation reflects not only growing confidence in the capabilities of locally designed and produced integrated circuits, but also how China’s semiconductor industry has steadily overcome US tech sanctions.

TikTok has put hundreds of UK content moderators’ jobs at risk, even as tighter rules come into effect to stop the spread of harmful material online.

The viral video app said several hundred jobs in its trust and safety team could be affected in the UK, as well as south and south-east Asia, as part of a global reorganisation.

Their work will be reallocated to other European offices and third-party providers, with some trust and safety jobs remaining in the UK, the company said.

It is part of a wider move at TikTok to rely on artificial intelligence for moderation. More than 85% of the content removed for violating its community guidelines is identified and taken down by automation, according to the platform.

The cuts come despite the recent introduction of new UK online safety rules, which require companies to introduce age checks on users attempting to view potentially harmful content. Companies can be fined up to £18m or 10% of global turnover for breaches, whichever is greater.

John Chadfield of the Communication Workers Union said replacing workers with AI in content moderation could put the safety of millions of TikTok users at risk.

“TikTok workers have long been sounding the alarm over the real-world costs of cutting human moderation teams in favour of hastily developed, immature AI alternatives,” he said.

TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese tech group ByteDance, employs more than 2,500 staff in the UK.

Over the past year, TikTok has been cutting trust and safety staff across the world, often substituting workers with automated systems. In September, the company fired its entire team of 300 content moderators in the Netherlands. In October, it then announced it would replace about 500 content moderation employees in Malaysia as part of its shift towards AI.

Meanwhile, business at TikTok is booming. Accounts filed to Companies House this week, which include its operations in the UK and Europe, showed revenues grew 38% to $6.3bn (£4.7bn) in 2024 compared with the year prior. Its operating loss narrowed from $1.4bn in 2023 to $485m.

A TikTok spokesperson said the company was “continuing a reorganisation that we started last year to strengthen our global operating model for trust and safety, which includes concentrating our operations in fewer locations globally to ensure that we maximise effectiveness and speed as we evolve this critical function for the company with the benefit of technological advancements”.

According to the weekly export sales report of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), sales were primarily to Vietnam (35,800 RB, including 400 RB switched from South Korea and reductions of 11,700 RB), Pakistan (28,100 RB, including reductions of 1,200 RB), Bangladesh (21,300 RB, including 2,600 RB switched from Pakistan and reductions of 4,500 RB), Peru (8,400 RB, including reductions of 600 RB), and India (7,300 RB). These were partly offset by reductions for Turkiye (12,600 RB), South Korea (400 RB), and Malaysia (300 RB).

US net sales of Upland cotton fell sharply to 105,400 running bales (RB) for the 2025-26 marketing year in the week ending August 14, 2025, down from 242,000 bales a week earlier, USDA reported.
Key buyers included Vietnam, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, though reductions were noted for Turkiye, South Korea, and Malaysia.
Pima sales totalled 1,000 RB, with shipments of 4,600 RB.

Export shipments of 123,300 RB were mainly destined for Vietnam (31,100 RB), Bangladesh (18,500 RB), Pakistan (12,200 RB), Mexico (9,600 RB), and Honduras (9,500 RB).

Net sales of Pima cotton totalled 1,000 RB for 2025-26, primarily for India (800 RB, including reductions of 1,900 RB) and Thailand (200 RB).

Export shipments of 4,600 RB were primarily to India (2,900 RB), Egypt (700 RB), Thailand (400 RB), Bangladesh (300 RB), and Vietnam (200 RB).

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)

The dream of flying taxis zipping silently above traffic-clogged streets has long captured imaginations, yet the reality has remained frustratingly elusive. But recent developments suggest we may finally be approaching liftoff. Archer Aviation, a Silicon Valley startup developing electric vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft, just achieved a significant milestone with its Midnight aircraft completing its longest piloted flight to date, covering approximately 55 miles (88.5km) in 31 minutes at speeds exceeding 126mph (203km/h) at its test facility in Salinas, California.

This breakthrough comes as Archer prepares for commercial operations in the UAE before the year’s end, backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and partnered with Etihad Airways. The ambitious plan would connect Dubai to Abu Dhabi in just 20 minutes, transforming what can be a two-hour drive into a brief aerial commute.

While futuristic renderings have always been easier than navigating regulatory hurdles or operating in extreme desert conditions, Archer Aviation founder and CEO Adam Goldstein believes the convergence of technology, regulation and investment has finally created the perfect conditions for urban air mobility to take flight.

What has made air taxis viable now when they weren’t before?
Three things have enabled the launch of air taxis. First, battery technology has advanced to the point where we can now build vehicles that can carry sufficient loads over long distances fast enough to make it economically viable. Thanks to the EV business – specifically Tesla – for rapidly advancing this technology, which enabled us to make an aircraft that is viable and safe, meaning people are excited to pay for it, and you can travel far enough to make it interesting.

A second thing that happened is we now have a very supportive regulatory environment establishing rules. The FAA established the first set of rules, which the rest of the world is starting to adopt, that allows us to now actually build and certify these aircraft.

And then, finally, the capital investments that were required to help launch the industry have been provided from OEM providers, such as Archer, to the players who have built the core infrastructure to enable all of this. We are working through the certification process to get the project to go live by the end of this year.

Why do we need air taxis when we have ground transportation?
We live and work in three dimensions, but the transportation grid has been stuck in two dimensions. You can always develop more ground transport but that eventually maxes out, which is why you see traffic in many cities. Flying over the traffic is a good answer to the problem. Of course, it’s not the only solution – tunnels and roads will continue to expand. But to be able to see the cities from the air is probably the most beautiful version of all those.

How will you scale this technology for mass adoption?
In the beginning supply will be limited, which brings us to the question of how many of these aircraft can we build and distribute? A lot of community engagement will need to be done, such as meeting with different municipalities to make sure they feel comfortable and that everybody understands the safety aspects of this aircraft. Our goal is to be a long-term player, so we’ll start conservatively and grow it over time.

The idea is for this to be a mass-market product. The things that limited helicopters from scaling – predominantly cost, safety and noise – have been largely alleviated. Our aircraft has the ability to scale in ways that helicopters couldn’t.

Why did you choose the UAE for your first commercial operations?
The UAE really leaned in to the industry from the very beginning, in terms of advancing technology and regulatory frameworks, in attempt to establish itself as a global leader in new transportation solutions. We partnered with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office early in the process to help build the core infrastructure and frameworks for how we would launch.

There has also been overall interest from the government to partner with companies that produce cutting-edge technology to ensure the UAE can lead in all new things. The benefit they’re going to get is early access to the results – but I don’t think that’s just an Archer thing. There’s a possibility for the UAE to become a hub for new transportation solutions for many other companies. Archer will be one of the early ones, but lots will come once they see that the UAE is a great place to launch projects.

What’s your long-term vision for urban air mobility?
I think a lot of entrepreneurs, especially in the hardware space, have dreamed about taking sci-fi gadgets and turning them into real products. I’ve always had a vision of bringing flying cars into the mainstream. I think it will start slowly, and then all of a sudden, it will be everywhere.

I can envision that one day there will be multi-lane highways in the skies, and that people will be taking these aircraft to work or to vacation. In 20 years, the world will look quite different because of this product.

What will air taxi rides cost?
The target price is at the high end of rideshare to start, with the ultimate goal being to substantially drive the cost down to somewhere near car ownership. The way we get there is by scaling. It will take several years to build enough aircraft, get the product out there and create different routes that make sense.

How will you build public trust in this new form of transportation?
We’ll have to gain the trust over time and maintain a very high safety record, but I believe that because the product is so exciting, there will be a lot of early adopters. There will probably be more people who want to fly with it than we can supply for quite some time.

Listen to the full interview with Goldstein on The Entrepreneurs, below:

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Read next: Flying taxis in the UAE will soon become a reality

The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) on Friday appreciated by 02 paisa against the US Dollar (USD) in the interbank trading and closed at Rs. 281.90 against the previous day’s closing of Rs. 281.92.

The price of the Euro decreased by Rs. 1.74 to close at Rs. 326.84 against the last day’s closing of Rs. 328.58, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The Japanese yen came down by 02 paisa and closed at Rs. 1.89, while the exchange rate of the British Pound witnessed a decrease of Rs. 1.81 to close at Rs. 377.93 against the last day’s closing of Rs. 379.74.

The exchange rates of the Emirates Dirham remained unchanged at Rs. 76.75, and the Saudi Riyal went up by 01 paisa to close at Rs. 75.13.