Pakistan 2.0: Technology to Drive Productivity and GDP

[Riaz Haq]

Introduction of green revolution technologies drove Pakistan's rapid GDP growth in 1960s and 1970s when it was essentially an agricultural economy. The decade of 1980s saw livestock revolution that helped increase farm productivity. Will rapid absorption of information and communication technology (ICT) do the same in coming decades?

Abundance of historical data on educational attainment shows that young Pakistanis are more literate and better educated than their parents and grandparents. And recent data confirms that they are rapidly embracing new technologies. Technology, particularly ICT, is increasingly visible among consumers, industries and public sector.  As a result, Pakistan today stands at the threshold of soaring productivity and rising standards of living over the next several decades. The basic requirements for it to materialize are maintenance of peace and security and  increasing investments in education, health care, energy and infrastructure.

3G, 4G Mobile Broadband Rollout:

The launch of 3G and 4G networks has accelerated the growth of Internet users in Pakistan. More than a million subscribers are signing up every month since the 3G and 4G rollout in the country last year. These new users are generating more and more data traffic requiring rapid increases in available bandwidth.

Pakistan ended March 2015 with over 12.07 million 3G/4G subscribers, up from 10.34 million in February, according to data from Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA). Telenor led the 3G/4G market with over 3.53 million subscribers, followed by CMPak (2.95 million 3G/4G subscribers), Mobilink (2.86 million 3G subscribers), and Ufone (2.66 million 3G subscribers). Warid had 66,140 LTE network subscribers at 31 March.

Thousands of kilometers long fiber network is currently in place to deal with the growing domestic bandwidth demand. Several projects are underway to grow this network further.

Consumer Applications:

Young entrepreneurs are developing and launching mobile apps for everything from sports and entertainment to education, ride-sharing and e-commerce.

Pepper.pk has topped BlackBerry’s Appworld with their game Ninja Fruit Bash, TenPearls won Nokia and ATT Innovators 2011 contest through their game Animal 101, start-ups such as PiLabs also made their mark with mobile games such as ‘Field Garfield’ which is an official Garfield game.

A ride-sharing app called savaree, photo-sharing app Groopic and custom shoes app Markhor have been making news lately in Pakistan and overseas.

E-commerce is taking off in Pakistan with companies such as Home shopping, Shophive, daraz.pk and Symbios are becoming popular for online shopping.

Spurred by a favorable regulatory and technology environment, Pakistan is witnessing dramatic growth in mobile banking.  Four out of five cellular mobile companies currently operating in Pakistan have launched m-money systems in partnership with financial institutions. The m-money market volume reached 153 million annual transactions worth US$ 6.2 billion as of 2013.

Industrial Applications:

Information and communications technology is being deployed in Pakistan's energy sector.

In addition to automatic reading of smart meters at the customer premises, smart meters have been installed with the support of USAID on incoming and outgoing feeders at all nine government-owned electric utilities. These will help move the system toward building of a smart national grid to better manage power generation, transmission and distribution in the country.

A captive power plant owned by Sapphire Group textile mill in Muridke Lahore is using hundreds embedded sensors and other digital instruments in power turbines, analyzing the data they collect, and using the information to improve the plant’s performance, optimize production and reduce unplanned downtime. US-based General Electric is paying for the sensors and the software. The company will be paid by splitting all benefits with Sapphire under a win-win scenario, according to GE Reports website.

Public Sector Applications:

IT projects ranging from automated meter reading and computerized land records management to online education and mobile banking are now at various stages of implementation across Pakistan.  In a report released last year, the World Bank called these projects "unprecedented in the public sector in developing countries". The objective of these efforts is to reduce corruption, increase productivity and improve service delivery in both private and public sectors.

The Punjab government is deploying smartphone applications to crack down on absentee mobile government workers and their corrupt practices. As part of this project, the government employee must send his or her picture and a report of interaction with citizens along with GPS coordinates. For example, a agricultural pest control official required to visit farmers must file reports of his findings and actions in real time via a smartphone app.

An SMS soliciting feedback from citizens is sent out after each such visit or interaction. Responses from users are logged into a central database, and the data then analyzed and mapped. Call centers have also been trained to contact those who do not respond or are unable to read the text due to illiteracy. More than three million users of public services have so far been contacted since the summer of 2012, with both positive and negative feedback, according to the World Bank report. “Sir, we went to the hospital yesterday. They asked for 1500 rupees [in bribes]. We didn’t have the money so we left,” reads one of the reports about a hospital in Lahore, the provincial capital. The feedback is actively monitored by the office the Chief Secretary – the top civil servant in the province – to manage the performance of officials.

Summary:

Pakistan today stands at the threshold of soaring productivity and rising standards of living over the next several decades. The basic requirements for it to materialize are maintenance of peace and security and  increasing investments in education, health care, energy and infrastructure.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

High-Speed Fiber Optic Connectivity in Pakistan

E-Commerce in Pakistan

Public Sector Apps in Pakistan

History of Educational Attainment in Pakistan

Online Education in Pakistan

Value Added Agriculture in Pakistan

Upwardly Mobile Pakistan

[Riaz Haq]

In Pakistan, ‘tabdeeli aa gaye hai’
By Kashif Ali

a definite change can be witnessed in terms of direct access that a common man has with people in positions of authority. Almost every minister has an active email, Twitter, and Facebook account through which they are interacting with people.

In fact, I was surprised to see how actively the Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, and the Office of former President Pervez Musharraf, responded to emails.

Scrolling through ones Facebook timeline also reveals that there are more political debates taking place on social media rather than in our Parliament. The young and frustrated youth are not only routinely questioning the elected leaders, but are also getting answers and rebuttals. All this has amplified the diversity of voices and given unprecedented political empowerment to the ordinary man, thus reinforcing the backbone of democracy.

Secondly, the rise of the internet and social media has given birth to a completely new form of governance; one that increasingly pushes for space with our traditional ways. Although the internet penetration in Pakistan is not as high, but we do have one of the fastest growing Facebook and Twitter user populations in the world. This extensive use of social media in more recent times has been one of the greatest factors in improving our governance, systems and procedures.

Just take the example of corruption; it is interesting to see how people are using social media to fight against corruption in Pakistan. Whether it is not allowing the former Senator Rehman Malik to board a plane for coming late or the recent suspension of a police officer over asking for a bribe from a passenger at the Islamabad airport; people are demonstrating their frustration through videos and photographs, putting them on social media and taking advantage of its great outreach.

In every sphere of life-from a driving license to immigration at the airport, the day-to-day bribery stories about government officials which Pakistanis are used to, are easily available on social media. As a result, there is a new sense of fear against the corruption and respect for laws and procedures.

Thirdly and most importantly is how the youth is driving social change; changing Pakistan from the bottom up. Today, the Pakistani youth can be seen in every stream of life. Be it education, health, civil society, they are enthusiastically working and volunteering to create a better future for this country.

I know of many friends from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), who run small non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that centre around providing education within their communities. These young students are passionate to volunteer, be it at the cost of lucrative job prospects, only for the betterment of Pakistan. Those who are employed in the private sector also take part in social work, putting an extra effort for no financial return, but just to spark a change in Pakistan.

In fact, a few friends and I started an organisation called RETO (Reach, Engage & transform Through Outreach) to help spread computer literacy in some of the obscure towns of Pakistan. Although it is still in its infancy stage, the sheer dedication with which all the members of our organisation are working is positively surprising. In fact, three out of five of us work in the private sector and despite the long and tiring work hours, they still manage to take out time to contribute in setting up this NGO. This may not be much, but we all know that every little helping hand can make a cumulative difference to our country and its people.

The cynical brigade may not recognise these positive developments, but such small changes have the potential to redefine Pakistan. What is more important is that we step out of the denial phase, look at our problems and work towards solutions.

Lastly, remember Imran Khan’s words, even if you do not agree with his politics as I don’t,

‘Tabdeeli aa gaye hai.’

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/27076/in-pakistan-tabdeeli-aa-gay... 

[Riaz Haq]

The Axact Scandal and Pakistan’s Growing Tech Sector

Axact has posted a response on its Web site that accuses the Times of defamation and promises “strict legal action.” Others will undoubtedly push back as well. The author of the Times story, Declan Walsh, was the paper’s Islamabad correspondent before he was expelled from Pakistan in 2013 for reasons that remain unclear. Some conspiracy-minded Pakistanis believe the article is a fabrication meant to malign their country.

Still, many Pakistanis have long suspected that Axact was involved in unsavory activities. When Axact was accused of improprieties in the past, the company’s response on at least one occasion was a precursor to how it has replied to the Times: The company filed a defamation suit.

One big unknown is the potential impact on Pakistan’s information technology sector. India may be more widely recognized for its IT successes, but Pakistan has enjoyed its fair share of achievements. In recent years, Technology Review recognized an IT expert at Lahore University of Management Sciences as one of the world’s top young innovators, and several Pakistani software applications earned international awards. Although Pakistan is a relatively small player in global IT, its ranks are growing, with about 1,500 registered firms and 10,000 IT grads entering the market annually.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/18/the-axact-scandal-and-paki...

In spite of all the challenges, including the energy crisis, political instability and lack of promotion, the IT industry has shown great character and grit in winning global recognition. There have been many success stories in the various IT domains, such as finance, healthcare, telecom and mobile applications. As per Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), Pakistan’s share of global IT sales is $2.8 billion, out of which $1.6 billion accounts for the country’s exports of software and IT enabled services. There are 1,500 registered IT firms in the country and over 10,000 IT graduates enter the market every year. Pakistan has mainly focused on higher end software products and solutions, whereas India and Philippines have grown in more basic IT enabled services, such as software and services outsourcing.

http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/2013/06/role-of-it-industry-...

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan's Naseeb Networks, owner of online jobs market, Raises $6.5 Million in Series C VC Funding http://techin.asia/1Elyeys via @Techinasia

Naseeb Networks, the parent company of employment marketplaces Rozee.pk and Minhati.com, announced today that it has raised US$6.5 million in a Series C funding round. The investment is led by Vostok Nafta and Piton Capital, bringing the company’s total venture funding to US$8.5 million.

The company plans on using the fresh injection of capital to accelerate growth in its target markets of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

In 2008, Naseeb Networks became the first startup from Pakistan to receive VC funding. Since then, investors have seen 680 percent return on their capital, and revenue has increased hundred-fold.

“As talent continues to move online at a rapid pace in emerging markets, businesses need increasingly sophisticated recruiting technology customized to nuanced local market dynamics,” said Monis Rahman, CEO Naseeb Networks, in an emailed statement.

Vostok Nafta managing director Per Brilioth and Piton Capital partner Greg Lockwood will join the Naseeb Networks board. Both will also play a key role in charting the future course and strategy of the company.

“We are excited to partner with Naseeb Networks and impressed with what Monis and his team have achieved in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” said Brilioth.

https://www.techinasia.com/pakistan-marketplace-raises-65-million-s...

[Riaz Haq]

Why #technology entrepreneurs are setting up shop in #Karachi #Pakistan #SiliconValley 

http://to.pbs.org/1EtWSwR via @NewsHour


The country (Pakistan) is also home to one of the world’s largest populations of young people.

Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro met with some innovators in the capital, Karachi, who are hoping that generation will fuel Pakistan’s rise to becoming a high-tech powerhouse.

The story is part of our Agents for Change series.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: It’s one of Asia’s fastest growing tech start-up companies. This team of Web site developers is on a project for Coca-Cola.

UMAIR AZIZ, Tech Entrepreneur: So, this is going to go up in 27, 28 different markets.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Umair Aziz, the founder, can name-drop other blue-chip American clients.

UMAIR AZIZ: Sears. We have worked with Amazon in the past. We have worked with Microsoft. We worked with Intel.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: One secret to his success — actually, it’s pretty much a secret, period — is where this company, called Creative Chaos, is located, Karachi, the teeming and indeed chaotic commercial capital of Pakistan, a country beset by terrorist violence and political instability, a city that ranks as one of the world’s most violent.

UMAIR AZIZ: We don’t want to be out of the race by advertising that we’re based in Pakistan. There’s a very negative stigma associated with the country.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: So, prospective customers see nothing on Creative Chaos’ Web site about its location. Technically, it’s headquartered in San Francisco. They soon learn that almost all workers are in Pakistan. Once hired, Aziz says, his company has never been removed from a job.

UMAIR AZIZ: People in the U.S. really don’t know that there’s a world outside of Talibans, and there’s a world outside of, you know, everything that they hear on CNN and BBC all the time.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: It’s in that world that Aziz carved out a profitable niche. Back in 2000, he was fresh out of college in Ohio and working for a Boston tech firm when he decided to return to his native Karachi.

UMAIR AZIZ: I knew there were hundreds and thousands of people like me who could join, you know, my organization. It was a risk, but I was betting on the talent. I was betting on people just like me.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: His is one of a handful of thriving Pakistani start-ups, designing Web sites, databases and applications for global clients. The tech sector is seeing a healthy 35 percent annual growth and Aziz expects his firm to grow fivefold by 2020.

In raw numbers, though, that talent pool could be a lot larger, says Jehan Ara, herself a tech entrepreneur.

JEHAN ARA, President, The Nest: The country is about 200 million people, and 70 percent of them below the age of 30. So it’s a very young population. So, the potential is amazing. How to channel that potential is something that we are all sort of thinking about.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Ara is leading an effort to scout that talent, trying to create what the technology business calls an ecosystem to foster creativity and new business.

This is The Nest. It’s one of a handful of so-called incubators that have been built in Pakistan. Here, 13 teams of techies chosen from more than a hundred applicants are working on what a panel of judges decided were promising business ideas.

JEHAN ARA: We are looking for young people who’ve developed a minimum viable product themselves while at home or at university and we know that they are committed to doing this. And then, once they get here, then we can help them further.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: For Pakistan, this is a rare work environment, and not just because it’s offered for free to these would-be tech titans. They have reliable power, broadband and hardware many could not afford on their own, plus a connection to global resources from donors to the facility, including Google and Samsung

[Riaz Haq]

Punjab IT Board digitizing government functions:

Punjab Government has launched Punjab Facilitation Center to provide different governmental services to citizens under one roof. In this regard, Punjab Government in collaboration with PITB (Punjab Information & Technology Board) has also released Asani Markaz app on Google Play Store to use digital technology for solving citizens’ problems with efficient and timely provision of services.

The services which Punjab Facilitation Center will integrate under one platform include

issuance of birth certificate
marriage certificate
death certificate
divorce certificate
character certificate
vehicle registration
token tax collection
vehicle transfer of ownership
FARD
learning driving licenses
traffic fine collection
domicile
Issuance of CNIC
NADRA E Sahulat and route permit
Asani Markaz app will guide public about the required documents for any specific service as mentioned above, its fee, payment procedure, timings and locations of facilitation centers. Additionally, an SMS will be sent to the citizens to inform them about the status of their application for a particular service.

This step to digitize the governmental services is taken to not only improve the governance but also make the maximum utilization of smartphones and recently introduced 3G & 4G services in the country. Furthermore, this step can help provide the service to citizens in timely manner, removing the agents/clerks in between who often take bribe to make tasks easier for certain citizens.

http://www.techjuice.pk/punjab-government-using-digital-solutions-f...

The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has made the ongoing wheat procurement at 376 government procurement centers efficient and transparent across the province. 
PITB Chairman Dr Umar Saif said this in a meeting here on Friday. 
He told that the PITB had developed a smartphone application for the Food Department Punjab that enabled digitization of farmers\' data approaching procurement centers to sell their wheat crop. 
He said the application was saving record of Bardana (bags) to farmers and wheat procured at daily basis that could be accessed by higher authorities too.
The application also enabled farmers to send their feedback regarding their experience at procurement center. 

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/304604/computerization-made-...


Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has released a mobile application for police or excise officers to identify any vehicle’s ownership with just one click on their smartphones. The step taken is said to be beneficial for the taxation department and citizens who forget to keep ownership documents with them.

Digitizing the functionalities of Excise Department will help in smooth running of its efforts to curb corruption and acquiring taxes in timely fashion. Moreover, the citizens will not face unpleasant situations of being narrated for documents in the middle of the road leading to time wastage and delay in routine tasks.

According to a recent post on PITB Facebook Page, the project “Integrated Command, Control, and Communication (IC3) Center” will be introducing smart monitoring of vehicles. It means that number plates of vehicles on the roads will be auto-recognized and registration numbers will be auto-saved in the database. This will help in maintaining a digital record for future smart analysis of movements of vehicles.

PITB has been introducing a lot of digital reformations for automating governmental functions lately. 

http://www.techjuice.pk/pitb-digitizing-vehicle-operations-in-the-c...

[Riaz Haq]

Last week, techies and business experts from all over the world convened at the Digital Youth Summit 2015 for three days of passionate discussions on innovation and entrepreneurship, angel investing, startups, and opportunities to work online. Young students were busy tweeting with their smartphones, tech entrepreneurs discussed latest development in the industry, government officials interacted with the 3000+ youth in the crowd, and the venue buzzed with excitement. This could have been a tech conference like many in the Silicon Valley. But it was taking place in Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in Pakistan.

The province of KP experienced the impacts of several wars in neighboring Afghanistan, and the local security situation has impacted local economic opportunities. This is especially true for KP’s youth, who now make up more than half of the province’s population. Young people made up the bulk of the audience of the Digital Youth Summit, and as they listened to panel sessions on the growing opportunities in the virtual economy, the importance of their location seemed to diminish: the enthusiasm of local youth has overcome the gloomy scenario often painted about Peshawar.

The global virtual economy is now a multi-billion dollar industry. Facilitated by widespread global connectivity and internet and lower costs of computers, the physical location of e-lancers (freelancers working through the internet), housed in traditional office spaces, is becoming less relevant. Instead, project teams can be made up of specialists located from Singapore to Nairobi, or San Francisco to Peshawar. And KP’s youth can also stand to benefit from these opportunities; with the right mix of technical skills, mentorship, and connectivity, the jobs become available.
----------

Another first was that DYS provided fertile ground for investment pitches: three investors announced a $65,000 investment (cash and in-kind) in Messiah (www.messiahapp.com), an application to connect victims of accidents or disasters to loved ones and early responders. The Messiah team is a group young twenty year old students from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who first met at university in computer science departments and, encouraged by their professor, they applied to the Peshawar Civic Hackathon (www.facebook.com/kphacks), organized by the World Bank, Code for Pakistan (www.codeforpakistan.org) and the KP IT Board.

Thanks to the support from these three angel investors, the team will be heading to a 100 day accelerator program in Jordan, where they will gain valuable skills in business development and further refinement of their idea to pitch to venture capital investors.

Last but not the least, several investors identified successful freelancers and agreed to source strategic activities of their businesses to Peshawar (for more information about freelancing in Peshawar, you can read this blog post: http://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/how-online-work-ch...).

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/05/14/pakistans-digit...

[Riaz Haq]

Beauty Hooked and Interacta - 2 #startups from #Pakistan in Asia's Top #technology startups list this week. 

https://www.techinasia.com/asian-startup-list-31-may-2015/ …

Similar to music detection service Shazam, Interacta is a mobile app senses the sound coming from the television content currently showing, which then triggers a response on the phone. In the case of audience-driven shows such as quiz competitions, users can view questions on the app and participate directly without being physically present in the broadcast studio.

BeautyHooked is currently a marketplace, linking salon owners and prospective customers, with the aim to become a white-label ecommerce platform, selling beauty and fashion products.

[Riaz Haq]

Excerpt of Economic Survey of Pakistan 2014-15:

Per capita income is an
important economic indicator which is mostly
used to measure economic development of the
country and also make comparison of wellbeing
among various countries of the world. Per
Capita Income in dollar terms has registered a
significant growth of 9.25 percent in 2014-15 as
compared to 3.83 percent last year. The per
capita income in dollar terms has increased from
$ 1,333 in 2012-13 to $ 1,512 in 2014-15. The
main contributing factors, of this rapid increase
in per capita income include acceleration in real
GDP growth, relatively lower growth in
population and the consistent of Pak Rupee.
Investment and Savings: Investment indicators
in outgoing years have also recorded
improvement over the previous years. Total
investment has reached to 15.12 percent of GDP
as compared to 14.98 percent of GDP last years, while fixed investment is at 13.52 percent of
GDP against the 13.38 percent of GDP last year.
Private investment is recorded at 9.66 percent of
GDP as compared to 10.03 percent of GDP last
year. Total Investment which was recorded at
Rs. 3,756 billion in 2013-14 increased to Rs.
4,140 billion for 2014-15. It is evident that total
investment recorded a growth of 10.21 percent
in outgoing fiscal year, which is an indicator
that investment activities are taking place on fast
track and confidence of investors is improving
due to government policies. Public investment
has registered an impressive growth of 25.56
percent as compared to the growth 6.82 percent
last year which is an indicator that government
expenditure strategy is development oriented.
Public Sector Investment which was recorded at
Rs. 842 billion in 2013-14 is reported at Rs.
1,057 billion in 2014-15. This huge increase
reflected that Public investment as a percent of
GDP increased to 3.86 percent against 3.36
percent last year. National savings are very
important to maintain higher level of investment
which is a key determinant of economic growth.
The foreign savings are needed to finance
saving investment gap, reflects the current
account deficit in the balance of payments.
National savings have witnessed 14.5 percent of
GDP in outgoing fiscal year against 13.7 percent
last year. Domestic savings are recorded at 8.4
percent of GDP in 2014-15 as compared to 8.0
percent of GDP in last year. Net foreign
resource inflows are financing the saving
investment gap. Private investment recorded in
last year was Rs. 2,513 billion and it expanded
to Rs. 2,645 billion for the fiscal year 2014-15.
This increase in private investment is the
reflection that private investors are showing
confidence on government policies and situation
is improving, which will further encourage
economic agents to take maximum benefits
from emerging opportunities in the country.


http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters_15/Overview_of_the_Econom...

[Riaz Haq]

Dubai: From a medium-term perspective, gradual privatisation of Pakistan’s banking sector will be crucial to increase overall efficiency, said BMI Research, a Fitch Group company, in a recent report.

The government recently raised $1.02 billion (Dh3.7 billion) by selling 609 million of its remaining government shares in Habib Bank, the country’s largest bank.

The sale is part of Pakistan’s wider plans to privatise 68 public companies, including 10 banks. While most of the companies are making losses, Habib Bank is profitable and growing. In March, the bank announced that it had signed an agreement with Barclays Bank for the acquisition of the its banking business in Pakistan.

Analysts say China’s recent announcement big investments in Pakistan will be a big boost to the economy and the banking sector. China pledged $45 billion for roads, ports and power plants when President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan last month. The planned investment, 28 times more than the foreign direct investment Pakistan received in the year ended June, will spur investment activity and help ease the country’s growing energy shortage, Moody’s said in a recent report.

As per the agreement, both Pakistan and China will allow banks to open branches in each other’s country. Initially, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Habib Bank are expected to open branches in China, with significant opportunities likely to be available in the remittance business.

Pakistan took a $6.6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in 2013 to avert a balance-of-payments crisis and has cleared six programme reviews. Oil prices have fallen 38 per cent over the past year, lowering Pakistan’s import bill, easing price pressures and giving the central bank room to cut interest rates.

To further improve market discipline and enhance assessment of the financial sector, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has evaluated and identified the ‘encouraged’ set of financial services institutes (FSIs). As of end-December 2014, asset quality has slightly improved, with a decline in non-performing loan (NPL) ratio to 12.3 per cent and net NPLs to net loans ratio falling to 2.7 per cent.

The risk to banking system seems to be negligible, as they encompass only 1.39 per cent of banking system assets. The number of Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) non-compliant banks has fallen from three to two due to capital injections. The combined CAR shortfall for two non-compliant private banks has decreased by Rs3.3 billion (Dh118 million) over the quarter to Rs7.96 billion (less than 0.03 per cent of gross domestic product) as of end December 2014.

http://gulfnews.com/business/sectors/banking/pakistan-privatisation...

[Riaz Haq]

Mr Hassan said the application (Bus Da Pata) would provide necessary information about a bus to the passengers on a single click.

The application could be downloaded free of cost from the internet on smart phones.

Its features include next bus’ arrival time, trip planner, live bus locator, fare and route information that will help save commuters’ time.

“The urban public transport has never been profitable but it is a social service and our private transport operators are contributing to the system,” he said.

He said a modern public transport facility was among top priorities in the federal budget.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1188707