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Showing posts from December, 2014

India's Exploding Book Market Promotes Anti-Pakistan Authors, Publishers

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Have you ever wondered why the publication of  anti-Pakistan books  has become a major growth industry today? The answer is simple: Authors and publishers of books about Pakistan know where the money is. It's in India where the book sales are rising rapidly in the midst of continuing global decline. Strong profit motive drives them to write what Indians want to read. Those, like  Professor Wendy Doniger of University of Chicago , who ignore this reality are punished by having their books withdrawn and pulped. No publisher wants to take this risk now. And authors who wish to get published have to understand it too. Indian Book Market: India's English language book market is the world's third largest, behind that of the United States at the top and of the United Kingdom at number 2.  It is the fastest growing market today which will make India the world's number 1 market in the next ten years.  It could happen sooner if the book sales in the US and the UK decline fast

E-Commerce Comes to Pakistan

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Guest Post by Monis Rahman Founder, Chairman and CEO of Rozee.pk Pakistan is late to the party. E-commerce is booming throughout our immediate region. India's leading e-commerce website, Flipkart, recently raised a record $1 Billion in new investment, handling 5 Million shipments each month. The website sees so much potential in mobile shopping that it has a stated goal of becoming "the mobile e-commerce company of the future". To our north, China's e-commerce leader, Alibaba, set a global record when it listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in September. Alibaba's Initial Public Offering raised a staggering $25 Billion, making its record-breaking IPO the biggest in the world. Today the Chinese e-commerce giant's market capitalization is over $250 Billion exceeding that of Wal-Mart, the world's largest old economy retailer. The market value of e-commerce companies in Pakistan's immediate vicinity including Turkey, the Middle East, Ind

High-Tech Startup Investment Opportunities in Pakistan

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Guest Post by Khurram Zafar I believe that the technology entrepreneurship ecosystem in Pakistan is at a tipping point! There are a number of factors at play that make Pakistan so ripe for both local and international investors looking to invest in the tech space: Quickly growing  internet adoption currently estimated to be  25 million internet users and 15 million mobile internet users ; Cheap smart phone devices  costing under $50 ; 3G  and  4G  rollouts; Massive amounts of marketing and media spend by companies like Rocket Internet, Schibsted, and Naspers that’s targeted to make Pakistani consumers comfortable transacting online; Development of platforms like  The Foundation  at  LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship  and  Plan9  that are supporting passionate entrepreneurs during their formative years; Slow but steady investments flowing into startups at seed (e.g.  Kima Ventures investment into Eyedeus Labs ) and early stage ( Frontier Digital Venture’s US$3.5 Million investm

China-Pakistan Industrial Corridor Will Boost FDI and Exports

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Industrial parks and special economic zones are part of the  China-Pakistan Economic Corridor  memoranda of understanding recently agreed between the leaders of the two countries. The key pre-requisites for  the establishment of these zones are resolution of the energy crisis and building of a competitive infrastructure in Pakistan. Energy and Infrastructure: The first phase of the economic corridor is focused on  $45.6 billion worth of energy and infrastructure projects . China's state-owed banks will finance Chinese companies to fund, build and operate $45.6 billion worth of energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan over the next six years, according to  Reuters . Major Chinese companies investing in Pakistan's energy sector will include China's Three Gorges Corp which built the world's biggest hydro power project, and China Power International Development Ltd. Under the agreement signed by  Chinese and Pakistani leaders  at a Beijing summit recently, $

Apple iPhone 6, 6Plus Launched in Pakistan

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Pakistani cell phone service operator Ufone has partnered with Apple to launch iPhone 6 and iPhone 6Plus smartphones in Pakistan. Ufone customers can register online for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus at the  company’s website . Smartphone  sales have accelerated in recent months after the roll-out of 3G and 4G services in Pakistan. The number of 3G subscribers has  reached 4 million mark , apparently surpassing all other broadband technologies in the country, within the first three months of the issuance of 3G and 4G licenses in the country. There are around 3.7 million  broadband  subscriptions in Pakistan for all technologies combined including WiMAX, DSL, EvDO, FTTH, Satellite, HFC and others till May this year. Total number of mobile subscribers in Pakistan is over 150 million. A growing number of these subscribers are smartphone owners who are using web services like e-commerce and social media. Gertjan van Laar, an app developer who recently published a report on smartphone us