Thirty-seven years in UAE and looking forward to more (By Iqbal Mankani)

I landed in Dubai towards the end of September 1975. That was the time when apart from construction workers, talented young men from Pakistan comprising bankers, insurers, engineers, doctors and other professionals were still migrating from the country in search of greener pastures. Banks and Life Insurance along with several heavy industries had earlier been nationalized by the Bhutto regime leaving behind a large group of talented professionals whose services would be welcome in any country in search of talented manpower, particularly the oil rich kingdom of the Middle East. The Arabs were indebted to Bhutto for teaching them to use their new found oil as a weapon against the West and to face the Western world with dignity and so they were more than happy to reciprocate by offering jobs to Pakistanis in their country. (complete article)

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Pak-India trade: New routes, bank branches emerge on the horizon

ISLAMABAD: It was the first visit by an Indian commerce minister to Islamabad in three decades  but the firsts did not end there.

The neighbours signed three trade pacts and laid the groundwork for not only opening more land trade routes, but also bank branches in each other’s countries for the first time since their creation.

Representatives of the central banks are scheduled to meet in Mumbai next month to discuss this, said a joint statement issued after the talks. (Complete news item)

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A vendor sells SIM cards in Rawalpindi on January 14, 2010. Pakistan’s battered economy is showing some signs of improvement with GDP growth expected to rise, a state bank report said January 12, but it warned that the battle against militants remained costly. Rising unemployment and inflation together have increased hunger and poverty among the most vulnerable in Pakistan. — AFP Photo/Behrouz Mehri