Tag: Pakistan
Missing Link in Islamic Finance Hubs: Islamic Venture Capital
The Islamic world profiled modalities of capitalism in 8th/9th century, but today’s Muslim country Islamic finance hubs are missing two vital aspects: addressing ‘have nots’ (micro-finance), and deploying the funds of ‘haves’ into Islamic VC funds. My focus in this article is on the latter–interplay between risk capital and innovative ideas for strategic localised benefit. [...]
Pakistan’s Defense Private Sector Emerges with Indigenous UAV Technology
Back in 1970, the American Army Gen. William Westmoreland is reported to have said: “On the battlefield of the future, enemy forces will be located, tracked and targeted almost instantaneously through the use of data links, computer-assisted intelligence and automated fire control. … I am confident the American people expect this country to take full [...]
Dr. Shamsad Akhtar: A Trail-blazing State Bank Governor
In 2006, Dr Shamsad Akhtar was appointed as the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), representing the 14th person of such a post since the Bank’s establishment in 1948. This appointment also afforded her the title of the first female Governor in the history of Pakistan. Amidst President Pervez Musharraf’s political controversies, Dr [...]
Harvard Islamic Finance Forum: An Outsider’s View on Islamic Finance
Islamic finance is, in the words of many of its practitioners and observers, one of the more exciting things happening to the Muslim World today. Many view it as a test case – a potential experimental ground – for how Islam’s Divine Law – the Shariah – is likely to mingle with or adapt to [...]
Pakistan Economy Remains Resilient Amid Crisis
Media coverage of Pakistan has been dominated by its political crisis and the now unfortunately regular spate of suicide attacks including the assassination of the prominent opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. It would then seemingly defy conventional wisdom that two leading Silicon Valley venture capital firms, ePlanet Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) – funds that [...]
Online Marketing: Key to Global Ambitions for Muslim World based Corporations
It used to be that attracting audiences regionally or globally was always a major investment adventure – ad-hoc trade show trips, local partnerships, local talent recruitment, distribution arrangements, physical offices, and local marketing agencies – the list goes on. Today, the internet – considered the great equalizer – is providing an extremely cost effective option [...]
Si3 – the “Accenture of Pakistan” Aims Big
Many ambitious young people in developing countries look to the West not only for higher education but to work for world-class Wall Street or Fortune 500 companies. In the late 80’s, Amer Hashmi of Pakistan, was one of those fortunate ones who got that opportunity, but always wished there could be choices much closer to [...]
Promoting Scientific Innovation in the Muslim World
Scientific and technological research and innovation is not among the qualities that one may attribute to the countries in the Muslim World. Having missed the dawn of scientific age due to reasons beyond the scope of this article, the 50-odd countries of the Islamic world cut a sorry figure when stacked against the modern and [...]
Creating Economic Clusters in the Muslim World
In the 1980s and 1990s, Silicon Valley propelled the world into the computer and internet age and, in the process, captivated the world’s imagination as a model region for organizing economic and innovative activity. Since then, leaders around the world have tried to create economic clusters—their own versions of Silicon Valleys—around the world in an [...]
