Overview
- At the Future Summit in Karachi, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the government will sell 24 state-owned enterprises and finish PIA privatization before year-end, with a righsizing plan merging 39 ministries already 70% complete.
- Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar inaugurated the country’s first Google Chromebook assembly line and announced an MOU with Google to train 100,000 developers and widen access to affordable digital devices, especially for education.
- Environmental enforcement tightened as the Lahore High Court ordered strict market and restaurant closing times to curb smog and officials reported to the Supreme Court that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has monitored 879 of 903 stone-crushing plants with 230 still closed.
- Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar outlined plans to expand the PNSC fleet by 50% with five ship agreements in final stages and proposed a 700-acre Pakistan Maritime Industrial Zone for shipbuilding.
- Governance frictions surfaced with the Sugar Mills Association alleging portal closures and import decisions worsened sugar supply and prices, while JI Karachi challenged AI-based e-challan fines in the Sindh High Court.