Business

Pakistani startup declares war on climate change

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

Suftech Innovations, a Pakistani startup, has put on the war paint to launch a groundbreaking assault on climate change by introducing disruptive technology to most efficiently reutilise resources, reduce marine and soil pollution, and plug greenhouse gas emissions to a measure that matters.

Suftech — which leads the transition from a linear plastics economy to a truly circular and sustainable plastics economy — is a climate tech startup with state-of-the-art patent-pending technology that can create pristine polymer from plastic waste. The resultant product is of such a premium quality that it can be used as a replacement for virgin polymer.

This directly takes the firm a step closer to the Net-Zero emissions goal, promotes circularity and sustainability and helps commercial organisations fulfil their commitments related to recycling and reusing plastics responsibly.

It should be noted that the technology is replicable, and scalable and can be relocated to any global destination.

“The reason for doing something related to climate change was very simple, it was something that is very close to our heart,” Ahsan Ejaz, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Suftech Innovations Private Limited, told Geo.tv.

The logo of Suftech Innovations. — Twitter/@suftechi

With the focus on being able to help solve global environment-related issues, the founders of Suftech believe “the Earth is our only home and if actions weren’t taken now, this home will not be liable for our future generations”.

With no investors on board, the founders of the startup kick-started their operations after they were awarded the Green Challenge Fund by Karandaaz Pakistan, the implementation partner of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in 2021.

The funding helped them set up their commercial scale plant and they now aim to make Suftech Innovations as a regional company in the next five years with at least two manufacturing facilities located in the MENA region.

Ejaz claims that Suftech has already brought a revolution within Pakistan and they aim to expand to the US and the UK markets in the next ten years.

He elaborated that within a few months, the firm has prevented 30,000+ kilograms of plastic waste from entering the environment and causing soil/marine pollution. “The technology helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 450,000kg and helped save $60,000 of precious foreign exchange by replacing virgin polymer with our product,” he added.

While most of the startups are struggling to continue operations, Suftech hasn’t been affected by the economic crunch that others are facing.

Ejaz believes every crisis is also an opportunity. “Due to the unfortunate economic scenario in Pakistan that has put restrictions on import and made everything imported extremely expensive it has at the same time created opportunities for businesses that rely on local materials,” he said.

“At Suftech we create virgin-like polymer from plastic waste which is readily available in Pakistan therefore we were not impacted by the shortage of raw materials ensuring the availability of our product and cementing our position as a reliable supplier for our customers,” he added.

The co-founder, however, added that the very high cost of electricity and the taxation system in Pakistan for startups needed to be simplified.

“This would allow startups like ours to reach our potential much more quickly and efficiently,” he maintained.

Business

Pakistan suffers a loss of millions due to inoperable airports.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

The Pakistani economy is strengthening and trending in the right direction, according to Federal Minister of Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday.

Speaking at the Pakistan Saudi Arabia Business Forum, Aurangzeb stated that the goal of the government was to support the private sector rather than engage in commerce. His goal was to encourage business-to-business (B2B) trade and investment, thus he welcomed the delegation from Saudi Arabia.

Within the last 12 to 14 months, the minister saw a considerable improvement in macroeconomic stability. With the help of foreign exchange reserves sufficient to cover two months’ worth of imports, Pakistan steadied its currency, decreased its current account deficit to less than $1 billion, and produced a primary surplus.

Strong remittances, expanding exports, and a drop in inflation from 38% to 6.9% have all contributed to the consolidation of these benefits, according to Muhammad Aurangzeb. Companies have also profited from the insurance rate reduction.

Even if Pakistan’s credit rating has improved, more work needs to be done to bring it up to at least a B-. Both on the debt and equity sectors, he claimed, institutional flows were returning to the nation.

As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board approved an extended program for the nation, the Islamabad Stock Exchange set a record high.

He stated that the IMF program will implement structural reforms in addition to ensuring macroeconomic stability for the long run.

The government of Pakistan remains committed to structural changes, sustainable growth, and tax reform, as stated by Muhammad Aurangzeb.

Business

Pakistan’s economy is getting better, according to Muhammad Aurangzeb

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

The Pakistani economy is strengthening and trending in the right direction, according to Federal Minister of Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday.

thus,Speaking at the Pakistan Saudi Arabia Business Forum, Aurangzeb stated that the goal of the government was to support the private sector rather than engage in commerce. His goal was to encourage business-to-business (B2B) trade and investment, thus he welcomed the delegation from Saudi Arabia.

As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board approved an extended program for the nation, the Islamabad Stock Exchange set a record high.

He stated that the IMF program will implement structural reforms in addition to ensuring macroeconomic stability for the long run.

The government of Pakistan remains committed to structural changes, sustainable growth, and tax reform, as stated by Muhammad Aurangzeb.

Business

Remittances from Workers

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

In September of this year, the State Bank of Pakistan reported that remittances from overseas Pakistanis amounted to 2.8 billion dollars, reflecting a 29% increase compared to the remittances received in September of the previous year.

The SBP reports that, with a cumulative inflow of 8.8 billion US dollars in the first quarter of the financial year, workers’ remittances increased by 38.8 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year.

Remittance inflows in September 2024 were primarily derived from Saudi Arabia at $681.3 million, the United Arab Emirates at $560.3 million, the United Kingdom at $423.6 million, and the United States of America at $274.9 million.