Pakistan in 2017: Tech & Business Highlights
Ride-hailing companies:
Ride-hailing companies like Careem & Uber got recognized this year. While the business of ride-hailing companies went up in Pakistan, the business of traditional taxis went down.
Interesting: Top ride-hailing companies in Pakistan
Pakistan Airlines:
While the traditional airlines of Pakistan like PIA had a disappointing year yet again news of new airlines starting operation in Pakistan circulated. AirSial is a new airline that will start operating in the country.
Smartphones:
Three new smartphones were released by three biggest tech companies Samsung, Apple, and Huawei. iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Huawei Mate 10 released this year. iPhone X was a disappointment at many levels while the other two met the expectations of the audiences.
Read more: iPhone X lost its worth in controversies
Airports in Pakistan:
Four new airports might develop in Pakistan by 2018. It was expected that Islamabad New Airport will develop by December 2017 but as per recent news, its inauguration is delayed again.
Pakistan Banks 2017:
Bank Alfalah was granted best bank of Pakistan for the year 2017, MCB Pakistan’s best investment bank and Meezan Bank was regarded the best Islamic Bank of the year.
Pakistan Cricket:
2017 was a great year for Pakistan cricket. Pakistan won ICC Champions Trophy beating India, thus making history. Sri Lankan team visited Pakistan after eight years. 2017 can be called the revival year of Pakistan Cricket.
Pakistan Politics:
The only news worth mentioning in Pakistan politics is that Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif was disqualified this year.
Pakistan Census Report:
Pakistan census report displayed highest population growth rate in Islamabad, the Capital of Pakistan. The growth rate of 4.91% was seen in Islamabad. Now the population of the capital is 2,006,572 from 805,235 in 1998. The report also suggested that Sindh is the most urbanized province of Pakistan with 52% of people living in cities.
CPEC Development Project:
CPEC has opened further doors for Pakistan. From development and growth perspective in Pakistan, 2017 can be called the CPEC year. The project recently opened 10000 job opportunities on National Highways and Motorway Police. We even saw the first CPEC marriage in 2017.
Pakistan Cinema 2017:
2017 was a moderate year for Pakistan cinema. We witnessed some senseless movies while some quality work was portrayed. In December 2017, many Pakistani movies are releasing that will further strengthen Pakistan cinema.
Cars in Pakistan:
150000 units of new Honda car were sold in Pakistan this year, till now. For the month of September 2017, Suzuki led car sales beating Toyota and Honda. Overall this year again Toyota remained on top in Pakistan auto sector. First Tesla car also landed in Pakistan this year.
New international auto brands are coming to Pakistan which include Renault, Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai etc.
Must read: First Tesla car lands in Pakistan
Startups & Entrepreneurs 2017:
The startups that emerged in Pakistan this year include Sayr.pk, Sehat Kahani, Vheelz, Trash It etc. Startup environment in Pakistan was encouraged. Careem partnered with Idea Croron ka to encourage startups in Pakistan, similarly Uber started UberPITCH to support startups.
New Apps in Pakistan 2017:
KPK introduced an app to curb discrepancies, RASTA app was introduced to solve traffic problems of Lahore, Smart City App for Islamabad was introduced, so on and so forth.
Viral apps in 2017:
Sarahah App and VEON app got viral in Pakistan in 2017. In just a few days of their release in the country, they gained huge popularity.
Tech violent games launched in Pakistan:
Blue Whale Challenge can be called as the most violent game launched in Pakistan in 2017. The game encouraged teens to commit suicide to win the game.
Islamabad sit-in by Islamist Groups:
Islamabad was closed down by hundreds of Islamists belonging from various religious parties. Their demand was the resignation of Federal Law Minister of Pakistan over an omitted reference to the Prophet Muhammad in a constitutional bill. For more than 2 weeks Islamabad was closed by these groups. It was not until army intervened that the issue resolved.
Pakistan in 2017 has seen growth in tech and business industry, but at what cost? Pakistani government has taken huge amount of loans. How will they be re-payed? Pakistan development has been dependent on foreign help. Isn’t it time for us to stand on our own instead of depending on other nations? This is what we expect from Pakistan in 2018.
Research Snipers is currently covering all technology news including Google, Apple, Android, Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung News, and More. Research Snipers has decade of experience in breaking technology news, covering latest trends in tech news, and recent developments.
