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ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday urged investors in New York to leverage Pakistan’s young population and large consumer base for diverse investment opportunities, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.

Pakistan has increasingly eyed foreign investment from regional allies and partners, particularly since it formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in 2023, to escape a prolonged macroeconomic crisis. The SIFC aims to attract investment in key economic sectors such as minerals, IT, tourism, agriculture and livestock.

Dar, who also serves as Pakistan’s foreign minister, arrived in the United States on July 21 and is scheduled to lead high-level signature events at the UN headquarters till July 28. The deputy premier met a group of businessmen and investors in New York to share his perspective on Pakistan’s improving economic landscape, the foreign ministry said.

“He encouraged the participants to explore diverse investment opportunities in Pakistan with a view to leveraging the large consumer base, young population, growing digital economy, and advantageous geographic positioning toward mutually rewarding outcomes,” the statement said.

Pakistan has a sizable population of over 240 million people, where nearly 64 percent are under the age of 30. Islamabad has recently taken several measures to adopt digital financial assets to ensure economic growth as the world embraces new forms of currency.

Dar stressed the critical role of the Pakistani diaspora toward realizing the trade, investment and economic ties between Pakistan and the US, the statement added.

He informed investors about the SIFC’s streamlined processes for investors across priority sectors such as agriculture, IT, minerals, energy and tourism.

“The participants expressed their commitment to fostering deeper economic collaboration and long-term investment engagement between the two countries,” the ministry concluded.

Pakistan considers the US an important trade ally as it is the South Asian country’s top export destination. Pakistan’s exports to the US totaled $5.44 billion in FY2024, as per official data.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has linked Pakistan’s economic revival to an export-driven growth and partnerships based on what the premier describes as “mutually beneficial” with allies.

ISLAMABAD: Zahir Zakir Jaffer, the man convicted of one of Pakistan’s most harrowing femicide cases, has filed a review petition at the Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence for the 2021 beheading of Noor Mukadam.

In the petition, filed under Article 188 of the Constitution and seen by Arab News on Wednesday, Jaffer argues that the May 2024 judgment upholding his death sentence contains “mistakes floating on the surface of the record.” He alleges that the court failed to consider material facts and due process violations that, if reviewed, would prove his innocence.

The petition argues that widespread social media coverage had fueled public hostility toward Jaffer during the investigation, trial, and appeals process, undermining his right to a fair trial. It also cites a ruling from another case to suggest that procedural errors occurred because the case was handled in haste.

“The impugned judgment may very graciously be reviewed, recalled and set aside,” the petition states, “and the petitioner may very graciously be acquitted of the charges or in the alternate, may be ordered to be re-tried afresh.”

The Supreme Court had previously declared the evidence against Jaffer “overwhelming” and found no merit in his insanity defense. But in this final legal challenge, Jaffer’s lawyers argue the case involved “misreading and non-reading of material evidence,” and claim that he was denied a fair trial.

Jaffer, a dual Pakistani-American citizen from a wealthy business family, was convicted of torturing and beheading Mukadam, the daughter of a former ambassador, at his Islamabad home in July 2021. The murder triggered national outrage, women-led protests, and rare scrutiny of elite impunity in Pakistan’s legal system

Jaffer was sentenced to death in February 2022 and lost appeals in the Islamabad High Court and Supreme Court. In its May ruling, the apex court said Jaffer had confined Mukadam for two days, ignored her pleas, and “beheaded her in a gruesome manner.”

“All the evidence pointed squarely to the petitioner,” the justices wrote, citing testimony from guards, digital records, and Mukadam’s attempts to flee the house.

The scope of review petitions in Pakistan is extremely narrow and restricted to identifying legal errors, not reassessing facts. Unless the Supreme Court admits the review, Jaffer’s last option will be a clemency request to the President of Pakistan, which the Mukadam family has vowed to challenge.