The Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) has urged the government to ensure the immediate payment of Rs6.5 billion owed by the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) to ghee and cooking oil manufacturers.
According to the association, the dues have been pending for over a year despite repeated reminders, causing financial strain for the industry.
In a statement, PVMA Chairman Sheikh Umer Rehan said that ghee and cooking oil mills across the country had already supplied products worth Rs6.5 billion to USC, but the non-payment of dues created a serious liquidity crisis for the manufacturers.
“Industrialists are facing capital shortages in meeting operational expenses and the import of raw materials, disrupting production processes,” he said and cautioned that if the issue was not resolved promptly, the sustainability of the entire industry could be at risk.
The association chairman emphasised that the issue was not only an industrial concern but also the one that would affect the credibility of the government. He noted that the association had been raising the matter with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industries and the Ministry of Commerce for the past one year, yet no practical action had been taken. “The continued delay in payments has eroded business confidence and fueled uncertainty in the economy,” he added.
Umer Rehan appealed to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan to take personal notice of the issue, initiate an inquiry and ensure swift disbursement of the outstanding amount.
He stressed that the ghee and cooking oil industry plays a vital role in ensuring the country’s food security and employment continuity, adding that it was the government’s responsibility to make timely payments to support the sector’s stability and contribution to economic growth.
Delay in loans will not adversely affect Pakistan’s external sector position in the short term due to $16 billion in gross foreign exchange reserves. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves increased by $16 million during the week ended October 24, 2025, reaching $14.471 billion, the central bank reported on Thursday.
According to the SBP, the country’s total liquid foreign reserves stood at $19.687 billion, of which commercial banks held $5.216 billion in net reserves.
Gold prices in Pakistan fell on Thursday, diverging from the international market, where the yellow metal gained nearly 2%, supported by a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut and persistent uncertainty over the China-US trade deal.
According to data released by the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA), the price of gold per tola declined by Rs1,000 to Rs418,862, while the rate for 10 grams dropped by Rs857 to Rs359,106.
A day earlier, gold prices had surged by Rs3,500 per tola, closing at Rs419,862, following volatility in international bullion markets.
Spot gold was up 1.7% at $3,995.59 per ounce as of 11:26 am ET (1525 GMT), having risen nearly 2% earlier in the session, according to Reuters. US gold futures for December delivery rose 0.2% at $4,009.20 per ounce.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would reduce tariffs on China to 47% from 57% in exchange for Beijing resuming US soybean purchases and rare-earth exports, and cracking down on illicit fentanyl trade.
Global gold demand rose by 3% year-on-year to 1,313 metric tons, the highest quarterly number on record, in the third quarter as investment demand soared, the World Gold Council said on Thursday.
Spot gold prices are up 50% so far this year after hitting a record high of $4,381 a troy ounce on October 20 on safe-haven demand driven by geopolitical tensions, US tariff uncertainty and more recently a wave of fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) buying.
The Pakistani rupee recorded a slight uptick against the US dollar, appreciating by 0.01% in the inter-bank market. By the close of trading, the local currency settled at Rs280.92, gaining Rs0.04 compared to the previous day’s close at Rs280.96.
In global currency markets, the US dollar edged higher as investors slashed expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December, following remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The development kept the Japanese yen hovering near an eight-month low ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy announcement.
Earlier, markets remained on edge ahead of a closely watched meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where both leaders were expected to discuss measures to ease their ongoing trade tensions.
Pakistan has reached a historic milestone in solar energy use.
According to a report by the Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development, during the summer months, electricity generation from the national grid ranged between 28 to 30 gigawatts (GW).
On the other hand, consumers collectively generated and used about 33 gigawatts through solar power, surpassing the grid’s supply for the first time.
The report states that Pakistan has imported solar panels with a combined capacity of up to 50GW, whereas the total installed capacity of the national electricity grid is around 46 GW.
Among the provinces, Punjab leads in solar energy usage, followed by Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan respectively.
In terms of sector-wise distribution, the residential sector dominates with 16.66 GW of solar power usage.
The commercial sector follows with 3.73 GW, the industrial sector with 7.91 GW, and the agriculture sector with 5.04 GW.
According to the report, 77% of electricity consumers now rely primarily on their own solar systems, while only 23% depend on the national grid for their energy needs.
Paris-based private equity (PE) firm Ardian has opened a 4,000 sq ft office in Hong Kong’s main business district, with an eye on growing its US$3 billion investment out of the company’s total US$200 billion in assets under management (AUM).
The new office at the Two International Finance Centre in Central marked the company’s fifth location in Asia and would initially have eight permanent staff, according to Jason Yao, the group’s head of Greater China.
“The reason we have an office here is to be close to our investors,” Yao said in an interview with the Post on Thursday. “We have very important insurance companies that have already committed to our various products. To be close to clients is one thing we want to develop in Hong Kong.”
“Private wealth is also a big topic in our industry as a source of capital. Investment-wise it is very important for the secondary business,” Yao added. “So we have a lot of sellers here and we have most of the intermediaries, the investment bank side, also here. It’s also very critical for us to further expand our secondary business in the region.”
Ardian, one of the largest European-headquartered PE firms, is considered one of the leading investors in the secondary private market, which involves the buying and selling of existing investments from other investors.
It has about 50 long-standing clients in the Greater China region. Its investors include insurance firms, sovereign wealth funds, private wealth investors and endowments.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has successfully passed the European Union’s cargo audit, marking a highly positive development for Pakistan’s aviation industry.
The audit was carried out by OGADA, the organization responsible for inspecting and validating cargo operations in the European Union.
The OGADA validation team carried out audits at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad airports.
Following the successful completion of the audit, it renewed PIA’s cargo license.
The EU officially issued the updated license and formally informed PIA CEO Amir Hayat and the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the development.
With the renewal of this cargo license, PIA can now transport cargo on its passenger flights to the UK and Europe. The CAA’s director of aviation security led coordination efforts and ensured full cooperation with the EU audit team throughout the process.
PIA had already been granted a cargo license for the UK prior to this, and the EU cargo auditors have now extended PIA’s license until 2028.
Japan’s bond market heads into a sale of policy-sensitive two-year notes Friday on a somewhat stronger footing on speculation the Bank of Japan isn’t rushing into the next rate increase.
The auction comes 24 hours after the BOJ’s first policy decision Thursday under a new government led by Sanae Takaichi, who’s seen as an advocate of relatively low rates. Governor Kazuo Ueda gave few hints about the next rate hike after the BOJ stood pat on policy, saying that the central bank isn’t falling behind the curve in the fight against inflation.
Apple boss Tim Cook holds an iPhone 17 pro and an iPhone Air, as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US September 9, 2025.
The latest iPhones have seen “a tremendous response” across the globe, said Apple boss Tim Cook as the tech giant released its latest financial results.
The firm unveiled its thinnest iPhone, the Air, in September, along with upgraded iPhone 17 models, proving a bumper crop for the firm.
It said it expects the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s period to be a blockbuster, forecasting overall revenue to be up to 12% higher than the same period last year.
But Apple narrowly missed estimates for iPhone sales in its fourth quarter that ended in September, which boss Tim Cook blamed on supply constraints for several iPhone models along with a lag in shipments to China.
Despite that, during a call with analysts Mr Cook said Apple is heading into the holiday season “with our most powerful lineup ever”.
The iPhone Air helped entice customers and boost sales.
If the company meets its sales forecast for the holiday season, it would be Apple’s “best quarter ever”, chief financial officer Kevan Parekh told analysts on Thursday.
Apple reported overall fourth quarter revenue of $102.5bn (£77bn), topping analysts’ estimates and representing an 8% increase from the previous year. But iPhone revenue, specifically, came in slightly below expectations at $49bn (£37bn).
Mr Cook stressed that global demand for iPhone 16 and 17 models has been robust, despite constraints that led to the sales miss in the recent quarter.
“We’re not predicting when the supply and demand will balance,” Mr Cook said. “We’re obviously working very hard to achieve that, because we want to get as many of these products out to customers as possible.”
In the Chinese market, he said he “couldn’t be more pleased with how things are going”, citing strong reception to the new iPhone 17.
Data from Counterpoint, a technology market research firm, showed that the first 10 days of iPhone 17 sales in the US and China were up 14% compared with sales of the iPhone 16.
The effects of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs also remain top of mind for Apple’s investors. It manufactures many iPhones in China and its global supply chain leaves it vulnerable to trade wars – though a recent meeting between Trump and President Xi raised hopes for a de-escalation of tensions.
Mr Cook on Thursday told analysts that the company took at $1.1bn (£836m) hit from tariffs in the recently ended quarter. He said the hit will likely amount to another $1.4bn in the holiday quarter as Trump imposes taxes on those whom he sees as “unfavourable” to the US economy.
Amazon, which also reported quarterly results on Thursday, projected sales to land between $206bn (£156bn) and $213bn (£161bn) for the current quarter through December, largely in line with analysts’ expectations.
“We’re encouraged by the start of the peak season,” Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s chief financial officer, told analysts.
Amazon also said that revenue from Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing business, rose 20% in the third quarter from the previous year – its fastest pace since 2022.
For investors, that AI-driven growth could come as a reassurance, as Apple faces fierce competition in the race to dominate the AI boom.
Apple’s stock has lagged behind that of rivals Microsoft and Alphabet, both of whom on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to spending big on the technology. Those firms have reported even faster growth than Amazon in their cloud computing businesses.
“We continue to see strong demand in AI and core infrastructure, and we’ve been focused on accelerating capacity,” Andy Jassy, Amazon’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Asian equities climbed close to their record and US equity-index futures advanced as strong earnings from Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. lifted sentiment after a brief pause in the global stock rally.
MSCI’s regional stocks index climbed 0.6% at the open, with Japanese shares leading the charge. Apple shares rose in late trading after the company beat revenue estimates and offered a bullish holiday forecast. Amazon surged 13% in extended trading after reporting its fastest cloud unit growth in nearly three years.
RIYADH: As global powers accelerate artificial intelligence investments, Saudi Arabia is confronting a defining moment in realizing its digital transformation ambitions.
Through Vision 2030, the Kingdom has made foundational investments in sovereign cloud infrastructure, high-performance computing, and international partnerships, positioning itself as a regional AI frontrunner.
However, industry experts caution that translating these ambitions into nationwide impact requires addressing three core challenges: modernizing legacy hardware systems, creating unified data architectures, and cultivating specialized compute talent.
The central question remains: Does Saudi Arabia possess the infrastructure needed to deliver AI at visionary scale?
Fadi Kanafani, general manager for SoftServe in the Middle East, said the Kingdom’s progress is already tangible. “Saudi is beyond the announcement stage; now we have action on the ground,” he told Arab News.
Fadi Kanafani, general manager for SoftServe in the Middle East. (Supplied)
Kanafani cited Humain’s AI-driven public service automation and AdopTech’s industrial sandboxes for manufacturing innovation as examples of execution beyond strategy. He also noted Aramco Digital’s alliances with hardware pioneers such as Groq — known for ultra-low latency inference engines — and Cerebras, a leader in wafer-scale computing, as evidence of cutting-edge capacity being embedded directly into the national ecosystem.
Global cloud providers are amplifying this momentum through substantial infrastructure commitments. Oracle’s second Riyadh region enhances sovereign data capabilities for government entities, while Amazon Web Services’ upcoming 2026 regional hub marks one of the Middle East’s largest cloud investments, Kanafani said.
At the academic front, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure have launched AI innovation labs at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, while Salesforce’s decision to base its regional headquarters in Riyadh signals growing international confidence in the Kingdom’s digital roadmap.
Suhail Hasanain, NetApp’s senior director for the Middle East and Africa, echoed that alignment.
Suhail Hasanain, senior director for NetAppfor the Middle East and Africa. (Supplied)
“Saudi Arabia has made remarkable progress in establishing foundations for AI-driven transformation,” he said. “Vision 2030’s prioritization of data sovereignty and advanced compute resources embeds artificial intelligence at the heart of national development — from Neom’s cognitive city ambitions to the National Data Bank’s unified information architecture.”
Legacy systems and talent gaps
Despite robust infrastructure growth, large-scale enterprise adoption still faces operational barriers. Outdated financial systems, fragmented electronic health records, and siloed industrial datasets continue to constrain AI’s full potential.
Kanafani pointed to these friction points: “Most organizations remain anchored to legacy systems fundamentally incompatible with AI’s data requirements. Critical information exists in disconnected silos — patient records isolated from diagnostic AI tools, equipment maintenance logs separated from supply chain optimization algorithms.”
Regulatory complexity compounds the challenge. “Governance frameworks vary significantly across healthcare, financial services, and critical infrastructure sectors, creating compliance uncertainty during scaling,” Kanafani added.
Hasanain stressed the human capital dimension. “Beyond physical infrastructure, we confront a severe shortage of specialized talent — data engineers capable of curating trusted datasets, machine learning operations specialists to productionize models, and AI governance experts to ensure ethical deployment.”
He outlined three pillars for closing these gaps: establishing benchmark datasets, building hybrid systems that balance performance with sovereignty, and developing comprehensive workforce pipelines to operationalize AI across sectors.
From pilots to real-world impact
Across energy, healthcare, and logistics, real-world applications are already demonstrating AI’s potential when aligned with national priorities.
In energy, Aramco uses predictive maintenance algorithms to anticipate equipment failures before they disrupt operations. In healthcare, institutions like King Faisal Specialist Hospital leverage computer vision tools for faster, more accurate medical imaging analysis. Meanwhile, Neom’s Oxagon industrial zone applies digital twin technology to simulate logistics before implementation.
Aramco’s AI hub, where predictive maintenance algorithms are used to anticipate equipment failures before they disrupt operations. (Aramco photo)
NetApp underpins such innovations through adaptable infrastructure solutions. “We empower organizations to orchestrate AI workloads seamlessly across sovereign cloud environments like STC’s and global hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure,” Hasanain explained.
He added: “For a major Riyadh-based financial institution, we integrated transaction data across 200 branches into a unified real-time fraud detection platform — significantly enhancing security while reducing operational costs.”
SoftServe, meanwhile, applies a co-creation model. “We partner deeply with Saudi organizations to build purpose-driven solutions,” Kanafani said.
“For a Tabuk agricultural enterprise, we developed a custom AI model that optimizes irrigation by synthesizing satellite imagery, soil moisture sensors, and weather pattern analysis – delivering measurable water conservation outcomes.”
Kanafani emphasized that organizational culture must evolve alongside technology. Their approach embeds change management from the outset, ensuring readiness for transformation.
Accelerated by NVIDIA AI Blueprints, SoftServe Gen AI Industrial Assistant streamlines the navigation of equipment manuals, speeds up troubleshooting, and simplifies maintenance tasks. (Softserve photo)
Balancing sovereignty and collaboration
The interplay between national priorities and international innovation continues to define Saudi Arabia’s AI journey. “Data sovereignty remains non-negotiable for sensitive applications in national security, central banking, and citizen services,” Hasanain said. “Yet strategic collaborations with global technology leaders accelerate capability development – such as deploying NVIDIA’s advanced DGX systems while simultaneously training Saudi engineers to manage them locally.”
Kanafani pointed to hybrid models gaining traction: “Leading Saudi manufacturers increasingly adopt blended architectures — maintaining proprietary process data on localized secure servers while leveraging global cloud scalability for supply chain optimization and market intelligence applications. This harmonizes control with flexibility.”
As Saudi Arabia develops national AI ethics guidelines, Kanafani underscored proactive design: “Responsible innovation requires embedding bias detection and algorithmic transparency mechanisms directly into AI systems during development — not attempting remediation after deployment reveals ethical shortcomings.”
Saudi Arabia launched the Principles of AI Ethics developed by #SDAIA during the #GlobalAISummit in September 2022. (X: @globalaisummit)
Building the AI workforce
The Kingdom’s Future Skills initiative aims to train 20,000 AI specialists by 2030 through academic partnerships and hands-on industry experience.
Hasanain noted the importance of integrating learning with real-world exposure. “Oracle’s developer academies provide vital theoretical foundations, but sustainable capability requires integrating graduates into real-world industry projects where they confront practical scaling challenges.”
Still, both experts warn that success will hinge on disciplined execution. “Underestimating cybersecurity requirements or data governance complexity undermines even the most sophisticated AI initiatives,” Kanafani cautioned.
Launch of the Future Skills Initiative as part of the Saudi-British Strategic Partnership Council and coinciding with the Human Capability Initiative Conference last April. (SPA)
As the global race for AI infrastructure intensifies, Saudi Arabia’s investments have positioned it to translate ambition into regional leadership. Yet, as Hasanain noted, sustaining momentum will require operational focus. “Our trajectory is clear, but achieving scalable impact demands relentless focus on data accessibility and talent density — transforming pilot potential into nationwide transformation.”
Kanafani concluded with a vision of distinction: “The Kingdom’s unique opportunity lies in synthesizing global technological excellence, local problem-solving ingenuity, and deeply rooted ethical traditions. This fusion could position Saudi Arabia as the world’s first values-led AI superpower — where technological leadership serves societal advancement.”
