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ISLAMABAD: Careem, the Dubai-based super-app with operations in 70 cities worldwide, will suspend its core ride-hailing service in Pakistan from today, Wednesday, due to worsening economic conditions and stiff market competition, its co-founder announced in a statement on LinkedIn.

Careem launched in Pakistan in 2015 and quickly became a household name for offering a cheap and easy alternative to traditional taxis and rickshaws. The company’s app-based service helped popularize cashless payments and gave flexible income opportunities to thousands of drivers, known as “captains.”

“This was an incredibly difficult decision [to suspend operations]. The challenging macroeconomic reality, intensifying competition, and global capital allocation made it hard to justify the investment levels required to deliver a safe and dependable service in the country,” Sheikha said. 

In recent years, Pakistan’s economic downturn, currency depreciation and rising fuel costs have squeezed ride-hailing margins.

Local players and international competitors, including Uber, which acquired Careem’s regional ride-hailing business in 2020, have also intensified competition for drivers and customers in key cities like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

Despite shutting down ride-hailing, Sheikha said Careem remained committed to its technology and engineering presence in Pakistan. 

“Careem Technologies ... will continue to build from Pakistan for the region. Nearly 400 colleagues across all functions (including engineering) are building the Everything App and its ecosystem of verticals (food/grocery delivery, payments, and more),” Sheikha said about the all-in-one super app that aims to combine multiple daily services in a single mobile app.

“This presence is only set to grow, with over 100 open roles and the expansion of our Falcon / NextGen program that brings in top graduates from Pakistani universities and gives them hands-on training on building highly scalable systems.”

Sheikha said Pakistan was in Careem’s DNA and its first line of code was written in Pakistan. 

“I sincerely hope to bring Careem’s services back to the country in the future,” Sheikha said. 

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump will host Field Marshal General Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, at a White House lunch, according to the president’s daily public schedule for today, Wednesday. 

The gathering comes amid heightened Middle East tensions and will be a rare direct engagement that signals a cautious thaw in ties between the two countries under Trump’s second presidency. After years of strained relations mainly over counter‑terrorism disagreements, both nations appear keen to rebuild military and economic ties.

Under Trump’s renewed outreach, Washington has praised Pakistan’s leadership and reinstated military cooperation previously curtailed over Afghanistan-related concerns. Islamabad, in turn, seeks to balance its longstanding partnership with China, including arms supply and defense infrastructure, with growing engagement with the United States

“The President has lunch with the Chief of Army Staff of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” Trump’s daily public schedule for Wednesday released by his office read. 

This will be the first time in several years that a Pakistani army chief is hosted by a sitting US president at the White House. The last publicly known high-level visit was by the then-army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who met senior Pentagon and State Department officials in Washington in 2022 but did not have an appointment with Joe Biden who was the president at the time. 

In May, Trump lauded Pakistan’s “very, very strong” leadership, and the White House described Pakistan as a “major non‑NATO ally,” signaling deeper security alignment. Last week, the head of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), General Michael Kurilla, praised Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in counterterrorism efforts, citing continued operations against militant groups and active intelligence-sharing between the two countries.

Pakistan’s powerful military plays a central role in shaping the country’s foreign and security policies. Direct outreach to its top commander reflects Washington’s effort to manage key regional security issues, including the aftermath of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, tensions between Pakistan and India after their brief but deadly military exchanges last month, and the broader fallout of the escalating Israel-Iran confrontation.

Security analysts say today’s meeting also reflects Washington’s renewed effort to maintain its influence in a region where Beijing’s footprint is steadily expanding through infrastructure investment and defense ties with Islamabad.