i       .
Friday
July 10, 2026


Al (Antificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand ninia-
ture in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023 The UN's
“agency for digital teclnologies on Thursday an-
nounced a new initiative to improve the trust of artif-
cial intelligence agents, as increasingly autonomous AI
systems raise concerns about accountabiliy and
human oversight. Al agents are a new generation of ar-

tificial intelligence systems designed to act independ- §

ently on behalf of users, carrying out tasks ranging

, from scheduling and purchasing to complex business
processes, While they can improve productivity, they
also run the risk of Al agents impersonating people and
taking unauthorised decisions, according to the Inter-
national Tdeconununication Union (ITU). To address
~__the risks, the ITU said at the Al for Good Summit in
., Geneva it would establish a Focus Group. This group

” will dev elop frameworks aimed at ensuring Al agents

. remain identifiable, trustworthy and subject to mean-
ingful human contro}, particularly in sensitive areas
such as financial transactions and critical infrastruo-
ture, *Al agents will soon negotiate, transact and make
- decisions on our behalf,” said Focus Group Co-Chair
Debora Comparin, adding common intemational foun-
dations were needed to establish who the agents are

_and how and when they can be trusted, —Reuters


Hormuz crisis pushes Pakistan to
float fresh spot LNG tender

By Khalid Mustata

cantly more expensive than contracted cate its acceptance
ISLAMABAD; Pakistan LNG Limited supplies from Qatar, Under Pakistan's lowest evaluated bid by 10pm onthe stranded due to the regional security

(PLL), on the directives of the National. two govemment-to-government LNG same day the bids are opened. ~
Committee supply agreements with QatarEnergy,

Crisis Management

Meanwhile, TotalEnergies, the suc-

spot market, where cargocs are signifi rules, PLL will be required to communi: These cargoes had been loaded before

oc rejection of the the conflict erupted but remained

situation.
In addition to the term supplies,

(SCMC), has Hosted atender seeking LNGtspricedat 18.37 percent and 102 cessful bidder in an earlier tender, ts Pakistan has imported three spot LNG
‘one spot LNG cargo carrying 140,000 per cent of Brent crude, respectively. scheduled to detiver another spot LNG cargoes. The latest vessel, ARADA, ar

_ cubic metres of Brrucfied natural gas

_ delivery during the July 15-16 window,

__ . The move comes as QatarEnergy
has extendad its force majeure on LNG.
supplies to Paldstan until August. The electricity tariffs,

company had initially declared force

" Majeure on March 4 following an atlack

Qatar's largest LNG production facility,
Ce ners iN te during.

mains cl
‘The continued disruption in long- tion.
term LNG supplies is expected to force

for Greater dependence on costly:

energy requirements.                   i
Since the « the disruption in supplies  Plicd by

‘spotcar caro to Pakistan on July 10-1] ataprice rived on July 4 at aprice of $16.7372 per
goes bs kely to increase the cost of of $17.37 per mmBen to help meet the M\{(Box Earlier, Seapeak Magellan,

RLXG-dased power generation, ulti- country’s
mately pulding upward pressure on

care
tying 140,000 cubic metres and sup-
arrived on April

following the outbreak of the Iran 30, while BW Hetios, carrying 167,000

According to the tender issued by conflict on February 28, 2026, Pak- cubic metres sourced from Oman,

:                         PLL on July 9, 2026, bids have been in. istan has received five term LNG car reached Pakistan onJune®.
on the Ras Laffan LNG complex, vited from international LNG trading goes from QatarEnergy under lhe gov |
companies for one spot cargo tobede- emmmenttogovemmment agreement at ‘ceive its fourth spot LNG cargo on July
The deteriorating security situation livered at the Pakistan GasPort Conson a price linked to 13.37 percent of the
around the Strait of Homnuz has further tium Limited (PGPCL) ENG terminal Brent crude benchmark These in
July 15-16, The deadiine for sub- clude Al Kharaitiyat (210,000 cubie per mmBuu.
that QatarEnergy may extendithe mission of bids is 2:30pm on July 10, metres), which arrived on May 12: 30

force mseure spat he waterway re while the bids will be opened af 2330p hzem (160,000 cuble metres) on May spot cargo

after technical and commercial evalua- 16; Fuwairit (123,000 cubic metres) on Pakistan's LNG imports this year will in-

. The govemment is now set to re-
10-11 after securing the shipment

With the arrival of the additional
scheduled for July 15-16,

May 28; Lebrethah (163,000 cubic me crease to 10 cargoes, comprising five

Under the amended Public Procure. tres) on June 12; and MRAIKH term cargoes from QatarEnergy and

Pakistan to rely more heavily onthe ment Regulatory Authority (PPRA) (170,148 cubic metres) on June 22. five spot purchases.

ADB cuts Pakistan     Govt begins commercial shipbuilding
after four decades, official says.

growth forecast:
to 3.7pe

By Mehta Halder          Inflation is now expected at
ISLAMABAD; The Asian De» 83 per cent, compared with
velopment Bank (ADB) has the previous forecast of 6.5
lowend itseconomic growth per cent, amid continued
forecast for Pakistan and spillover effects from the
raised Its inflation projec Middle East conflict.
tions, citing higher food and The government has pro-
fucl costs stemming from re jected CPEbased Inflation of |
Bional conflicts and disrup- &2 per cent for FY 2027.
tions in global energy mar- > The ADB also lowered its

kets.                                          growth forecast for develop-
The ADB has cut Pak- ing Asia and the Pacific to4.9
istan’s GDP growth projec per cent in 2026 from 6.5 per
tion for fiscal year 2027t03.7 cent in 2025, a reduction of
per cent from its earlier esth 0.2 percentage points from ks
mate of 45 percent.       April forecast. The bank at-
*Pakistan's forecast for tributed the downgrade to
FY¥2007 is also revised down prolonged disruptions in en-
to37 per cent, due to higher enty markets caused by the
energy costs and pressure on Middle East conflict.
Tenittances,” the ADBsaldin The growth forecast for
its Asian Development Out- 2027 was maintained at 6.1
look (ADO) released on percent, reflecting expecta-
Thursday. .              tions of a recovery as energy
The government has set a_ market pressures ease,
real GDP growth target of 4 -    ‘The ADB sald disruptions
percent for FY20027.            to global energy markets
~~ The ADB sald preliminary were expected to unwind
datashowed Pakistansecom gradually despite a frame-
omy expanded by 3.7 per work agreement signed in
cent in FY2026, which ended June. It noted that the im-

News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has
started building its frst com-
mercial container ship since
the early 1980s, an official
said on Thursday, imple
menting a state-backed
strategy to modernise the
county's ports, overhaul
customs and revive its de-
funct shipbuilding and ship.
recycling industries, accord-
ing to Arab News.    ”

The project at the

Karachi Shipyard & Engi- .

neering Works (KS&EW),
executed under a contract

Gulf.
companies
are set to
reveal.
unequal toll
‘of Iran war’

years,
DUBAI Companies in the

Gulf, some of the most di-
rectly affected by the Iran
war, wil provide one of the
clearest Insights so far of its
regional financial impact
when they begin reporting
thelr second-quarter earm-
ings this week.

In countries from Saudi
Arabia and Oman to the

Uuongh competitive bidding at S1t87  United Arab Emirates and

Qatar, company results are
likelytobe mixed.

Banks and Breal estate
are most exposed given pro
existing challenges that have
been exacerbated by the
war's impact on inflation on
interest rates, while tele-
coms were sheltered by
long-term contracts and rel-
atively inflexible demand,
analysts said,

Energy companies faced
supply disruption from the
four-month conflict, but also

~- [potential gains from the

with the state-run Pakistan hag started there [Karachi
National Shipping Corpora- Shipyard] under a contract
tion (PNSC), ends @ four signed with the PNSC,” Vice
decade pause in commercial Admiral (r) Iftikhar Ahmad
manufacturing of ships. It Rao, the task force's chair
serves as one of the key cles man, said during a press
ments of a push by the briefing,

Prime Minister's Task Force .

price volatility caused by the | sues.
closure of the Strait of Hor
™muzshipping channel. * ~
“The second quarter is
going to reveal the real im:
pact of the war,” said Tariq
Qanish, deputy CEO at ad-

“Construction has ‘all visory firm FH Capital. He

Remittances
hit record
$41.6bn in

FY26

By Erum Zaidi

KARACHI: Pakistan posted record reruittances in the fis.

cal year 2026 that ended in June.

Workers living abroad continued sending cash back
home and supporting the country’s economy. The amount,
totalled $41.6 billion in July June F¥26, In line with the
govemment and the central bank's estimates of $41-42 bil-
lien, according to the State Bank of Pakistan data pub-
lished on Thursday,

Remittances increased by 9.0 per + cent in FY26, com.
pared with the previous year. In June, these inflows.
reached $35 billion, reflecting 22.0 per cent increase com-
pared to FY25, but a decline of 183 per cent from May.

Despite worries expressed in late February and early
March during the Middle East conflict that remittances
‘would drastically decline and affect the economy, Gover
nor of the State Bank of Pakistan Jameel] Ahmad projected
last week that these inflows would surpass $41.6 billion in

*A low kerb premium, supported by continuous mpec
appreciation and increased labor migration In recent
years, contributed to a surge in remittances, which
reached a record high,” sald Awais Ashraf, the director of
research at AKD Securities Limited.

“More Importantly, measures taken by the government
andthe SBP to minimise transaction costs encouraged re
tmuittance inflows through formal channels