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Venture Capital Investing in Pakistan

As the US venture capital investment activity in India and China races ahead, the VC investments in Pakistan are just beginning to show signs of life with two young Pakistani companies receiving funding in late 2006 and middle of 2007.



Venture capital investment in China was up to $719m across 39 deals during the first quarter of 2008 from $492m in the first quarter of 2007, with media and advertising companies accounting for the bulk of deal activity and investment, according to the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on June 15, 2008 at 7:19pm — 4 Comments

The Long March or the Big Farce?

As the "Long March" by the Pakistani lawyers gets headlines in Pakistan and around the world, it is natural to ask what is all the fuss about? Ostensibly, it is to restore Pakistani judiciary as an independent and powerful institution and strengthen democracy. But is this a realistic expectation that an independent, powerful judiciary supported by lawyers and the media in Pakistan would be good for democracy and the rights of the average citizen? Let's look at the following facts to answer this… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on June 10, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments

Karachi: The Urban Frontier

National Public Radio(NPR), an American radio network, is doing a series on a massive wave of urbanization underway in the world's emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India and Pakistan. It has chosen to start with Karachi, which it describes as Pakistan's "economic lifeline" and financial "powerhouse" that produces 25% of Pakistan's GDP, and calls it "one of the largest and most crowded cities of the world". It has a segment on Shehri, the activist group fighting big-money… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on June 5, 2008 at 1:00pm — 3 Comments

OPEN Forum 2008 in Silicon Valley

Along with Howard Dean, Steve Westley and Mike Moritz, several

prominent Silicon Valley NEDians are speakers and/or panelists at the

OPEN Forum 2008, the annual conference organized by Organization of

Pakistani Entrepreneurs (http://www.opensiliconvalley.org). It is

scheduled for Saturday, June 14, 2008 in Palo Alto, CA.



Mike Moritz, the Iconic Venture Capitalist who saw YouTube and Google

coming, will tell you what the next major trends are in high tech… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on June 2, 2008 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Should Pakistanis be Proud of Their Country?

On the day of our departure for Jeddah, with our bags packed and goodbyes dispensed with, our group found itself together at the coffee shop of the hotel. There each one of us talked about whether this trip had changed our opinions of Pakistan and its people.



This is a country of about 160 million people scattered about four provinces and Azad Kashmir. As the world's fifth largest democracy, Pakistan has had its share of questionable leadership, but there is enough evidence that the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 26, 2008 at 6:45am — No Comments

Sharia in Swat: Is This Appeasement?

Under a peace deal signed by the NWFP provincial government, the authorities say they will withdraw security forces and allow the pro-Taliban militants to impose Sharia law in Swat in return for promises to close training camps and end attacks. This is particularly astonishing as it involves secular nationalists of the Awami National Party that trounced the right wing JUI party in the last elections.



This announcement by Senior Minister of NWFP Bashir Ahmad Bilour followed a… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 21, 2008 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Sixty Years of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Yawm al-nakba (The Catastrophe) and Yom Ha'atzmaut (The Independence Day) occur on May 14 each year. But this year is the 60th anniversary of the events of May 14, 1948 that the Israelis celebrate as their independence day and the Palestinians recall the horrors of massacres of Palestinians and expulsions from their homes in what is now the state of Israel.



For a long time, the Israeli textbooks have either not mentioned or completely denied any violence and forced expulsions of…

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Added by Riaz Haq on May 17, 2008 at 8:30am — 5 Comments

Food Crisis: Opportunity For Entrepreneurs

As the world food crisis becomes acute, entrepreneurs see opportunities to tackle it and make big money. Such efforts could give a much-needed boost to feed the growing population of the world. For years, big agribusiness companies have used new seed and fertilizer varieties to push yields higher. But as technology gains have slowed, the search for additional arable land has intensified. That's created an opening for entrepreneurs with visions of re-collectivizing the land in former communist… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 14, 2008 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

Mobile Internet in Pakistan

When Intel puts its weight behind an initiative, it automatically gets a boost. But when Google and Intel together join forces, no one in their right mind can bet against such a combined force. Mobile Internet with broadband access has achieved that inevitability with Google backing a Wimax joint venture between wireless veteran Craig McCaw's Clearwire and Sprint-Nextel. In addition to Intel and Google, this venture is also supported by Comcast and Time-Warner.



As the world goes… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on May 8, 2008 at 10:03pm — No Comments

India Racing Ahead in Space

"The mission was perfect," said G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the state-run Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Mr. Nair was celebrating the latest successful launch by India of a mission with 10 satellites from the Sriharikota space center off India's east coast.



This latest success by ISRO makes India a serious contender in the fast growing $2.5B commercial satellite launch business expected to grow rapidly over the next several years. The BBC is reporting that the rocket… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 28, 2008 at 8:00am — 6 Comments

Food Price Inflation Hits Silicon Valley

Food Price Hikes Hit Silicon Valley

By Riaz Haq

www.riazhaq.com



The prices of rice, chappati, besan, daals, spices and almost all staples consumed by silicon valley South Asians have experienced triple digit price inflation during the last year. After reading about food price inflation and shortages of staple foods in their home countries, Pakistanis and Indians are now feeling the pinch in Silicon Valley as Basmati rice is in very short supply even with a 300% price jump.… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 26, 2008 at 10:03pm — No Comments

Pakistan's New Era of Unchecked Corruption?

As Mr. Asif Ali Zardari and Mr. Nawaz Sharif together consolidate their power in Pakistan, there are renewed fears that a new era of of unchecked corruption is about to hit Pakistan. Let's hope that these fears are unfounded. Unfortunately, the history tells us otherwise.



In the past, Pakistanis have had to withstand plunder from only one of them at a time. The question now is: Can Pakistan survive a combined assault by both of these "gentlemen" and their cabinet ministers in… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 18, 2008 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Lawyers Movement Gone Awry!

"If they demand that the Afghan refugees be returned to Afghanistan, we demand that they (the Urdu-speaking Karachi-ites) be sent back to India" so says Mr. Latif Afridi, the President of Peshawar Bar Association. This outrage from Peshawar followed the clashes between the lawyers in Karachi which were triggered by the violence of the lawless lawyers of Lahore earlier.



The lawyers movement started well and helped bring about a positive change in Pakistan as a manifestation of the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 14, 2008 at 6:20pm — No Comments

Indian Sports Flush With Money

Indian Sports Attract Big Money, Stars

By Riaz Haq

http://southasiainvestor.blogspot.com



As India's economy, business and industry experience rapid growth, large amounts of sponsorship dollars are flowing into the various sports including cricket, football and golf. At first, most of the attention was on the big cricket stars such as Sachin Tedulkar grossing million of dollars a year. Then came the Indian Cricket League(ICL) and Indian Premier League(IPL) drawing the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 13, 2008 at 8:32am — No Comments

Lawless Lawyers of Lahore

The criminal behavior of the lawyers in Lahore has shocked the nation and the world. They not only kidnapped and injured former federal minister Dr. Sher Afghan Niazi but they threw rocks and flattened the tires of the ambulance that was taking him to the hospital for treatment. Mr. Aitezaz Ahsan, the leader of the lawyers movement, has resigned from his position as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.



While some may be tempted to call it an isolated incident, the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 8, 2008 at 10:42am — 2 Comments

Benazir Bhutto's Life on Silver Screen

A Pakistani film company is rushing into the production of a movie based on the life of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto in collaboration with noted Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, according to a news report in Pakistan Link.



Given the multi-dimensional significance of Benzair Bhutto to Pakistan and the world, it is not surprising that Lollywood and Bollywood together see her as an interesting subject to put on the big screen. What is surprising is the following statement by… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 7, 2008 at 9:32am — 1 Comment

US Poll: 81% Americans Unhappy

Eighty-one percent of Americans believe the US is headed in the wrong direction, says the latest NY Times/CBS poll conducted recently. This is the worst ever reading of dissatisfaction since this particular poll began in the 1990s. Although the public unhappiness has been rising since the early days of the Iraq war, it has taken a new turn for the worse in the last few months, as the economy has seemed to slip into recession. There is now nearly a national consensus that the country faces… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 4, 2008 at 3:32pm — No Comments

A New Deal For Pakistan

The province of Sindh in southern Pakistan is a rural region of dusty mudbrick villages, of white-domed blue-tiled Sufi shrines, and of salty desert scrublands broken, quite suddenly, by floodplains of wonderful fecundity. These thin, fertile belts of green—cotton fields, rice paddies, cane breaks, and miles of checkerboard mango orchards—snake along the banks of the Indus River as it meanders its sluggish, silted, café-au-lait way through the plains of Pakistan down to the shores of the… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on April 2, 2008 at 7:37am — 2 Comments

Gillani Addressing Wheat, Energy Crises

With global commodity prices and inflation hitting new highs, Pakistan and other emerging economies are faced with serious challenges. The rising inflation of staples such as wheat has already claimed Pakistan's former ruling coalition as a victim. Many other developing countries' governments are likely to fall as well unless these challenges are addressed effectively.



Knowing the importance of wheat for Pakistanis, the government of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani has begun… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 31, 2008 at 11:10am — No Comments

Iftikhar Chaudhry Is No Angel!

"Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was not and is not an angel" said Mr. Muneer A. Malik, the President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, during an interview with Philip Reeves of NPR radio broadcast in the United States last year. This interview took place in 2007 after President Musharraf sacked Mr. Chaudhry and Malik launched a campaign to restore Mr. Chaudhry.



While I strongly disagree with Mr. Musharraf's decision to fire Mr. Chaudhry, I am curious to find out what Mr.… Continue

Added by Riaz Haq on March 30, 2008 at 6:25pm — 4 Comments

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    Blog Posts

    Pakistani Student Enrollment in US Universities Hits All Time High

    Pakistani student enrollment in America's institutions of higher learning rose 16% last year, outpacing the record 12% growth in the number of international students hosted by the country. This puts Pakistan among eight sources in the top 20 countries with the largest increases in US enrollment. India saw the biggest increase at 35%, followed by Ghana 32%, Bangladesh and…

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on April 1, 2024 at 5:00pm

    Agriculture, Caste, Religion and Happiness in South Asia

    Pakistan's agriculture sector GDP grew at a rate of 5.2% in the October-December 2023 quarter, according to the government figures. This is a rare bright spot in the overall national economy that showed just 1% growth during the quarter. Strong performance of the farm sector gives the much needed boost for about …

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    Posted by Riaz Haq on March 29, 2024 at 8:00pm

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