The newest entrant in the market for tablets and eBook readers – dominated by the likes of Apple, Amazon and Samsung – is none other than the Pakistani military.

The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra, whose self-described mission is “to produce and support weapon systems for a high state of operational readiness of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)”, has started up a new commercial venture with a Chinese company, which an official told The Express Tribune was to “strengthen the national economy”.

The first three products produced by PAC are a computing tablet, a notebook and an eBook reader.

A press release issued at the launch of the project on December 29 notes that “for the joint production of JF-17, PAF had established sufficient facilities which are appropriate for the production of both defence and commercial products.”

The PAC official, who asked not to be named, told The Express Tribune that the joint venture with the Chinese company Innavtek had taken off with the initial offering of three products. “We plan to expand this in the future.”

The venture website, cpmc.pk, states that “Innavtek jointly developed two products with Avionics Production Factory which are successfully flying on fleet of our JF-17 aircraft and three more products are under co development phase.”

The official said that while PAC would manufacture the products, marketing was Innavtek’s responsibility.

He said the products were initially being marketed in Rawalpindi, but modalities needed to be finalised so it could expand to other cities including Lahore and Karachi. “We will get in touch with courier companies to see if we can reach a deal to transport them,” he said.

The competitively priced products, he said, have several benefits because they are being manufactured in Kamra. “It comes with a joint one-year warranty of PAC and Innavtek. Because PAC is producing it, it will ensure quality. We will also provide backup support,” the official said. In the first stage of this venture, PAC will manufacture the products locally but there are plans for an exchange of personnel to be trained in China and Pakistan respectively.

PAC’s plan to “strengthen the national economy” via its new commercial venture means it has to capitalise on “current trends”.

Jehan Ara, the president of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA), said she was unaware of the venture. She was skeptical that customers would buy PAC’s products just because they were manufactured by the Pakistani military. “People with a fixed budget will test products, read reviews and get recommendations from friends and then buy something. They don’t buy just because of a name. They will test it out of curiosity and put up reviews etc.” She also said governments around the world and in Pakistan buy computers from vendors based on pricing and reliability, and should not be forced to buy from a specific vendor.

LAHORE – Mobilink has developed and implemented an innovative content-filtering solution to reinstate internet services for the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), says a press release.

The initiative by Mobilink allows subscribers to fully access the internet, including social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, using their mobile devices. Omar Manzur, Director PR & CSR, highlighted, “Customer satisfaction is an essential driver at Mobilink, and this content filtering solution is our initiative to restore full functionality of internet services for our valued customers, while maintaining PTA regulations.”

Nokia Pakistan recently announced that Arif Shafique, previously Head of Sales, Nokia Pakistan and Afghanistan has been promoted to the position of General Manager (GM), Nokia Pakistan and Afghanistan. Backed by more than four years of experience with in Nokia Pakistan, coupled with his overall 20 years of work experience, Arif has an in-depth understanding of company’s critical management processes and is one of the few employees to have been associated with the company since its inception in Pakistan, says a press release.

During his tenure at Nokia, Arif has shown consistently remarkable performance and has made substantial contribution to company’s top-line as well as bottom-line growth.

He played a key role in taking Nokia brand to the next level in Pakistan, helping the overall telecom sector to flourish in the process as well. Under his able leadership, Nokia has achieved several notable milestones in Pakistan, most important of them being record-breaking sales last year. As Head of Sales, Arif has not just been developing sales strategies and having them implemented to achieve ambitious targets but also has a clear understanding of the market in which Nokia operates.

Lahore – 24th January, 2012: wi-tribe Pakistan, rated number one for customer satisfaction, and Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, University of Engineering and Technology (KICS-UET) unveiled ‘wi-cam’ at a press conference held at the UET campus today.

wi-cam, a CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) Management and Administration tool, developed by students and graduates of KICS-UET using open-source technology, allows broadband companies, such as wi-tribe, to remotely configure and manage CPEs, while receiving instant notifications and access to live data. Not only does this result in an improved customer care experience, it also enables customers to continue enjoying seamless connectivity.

wi-tribe entered into a strategic public-private partnership with KICS-UET to conceive, develop and launch a fully funded research and development program, enabling the innovation of this breakthrough feature-rich management tool. With wi-cam, wi-tribe and UET jointly demonstrate that sourcing local development of critical customer service innovation is not only possible, but also essential to the proliferation of technical capabilities within Pakistan.

“At wi-tribe, we thrive on the potential of the Pakistani youth and are eager to foster innovative ideas that can elevate the local IT industry to international standards. With remote CPE management capabilities, providing real-time updates and support allows wi-tribe to stay focused on customer satisfaction”, said Dr. Tanveer-ul-Haq, Vice President Technical at wi-tribe Pakistan.

This is the first of many other locally developed business tools that will aid the industry in setting new global standards in customer care, operational efficacy and return on investment, while ensuring a long-term vision with public-private partnerships between academic institutions and the internet service industry.

“At KICS-UET, researchers are keen on capitalizing open source technologies and developing cost effective solutions for local telecom and IT industry. wi-cam is a product built with local talent and it has helped KICS-UET researchers better understand software needs of the telecom industry. With these leading steps we foresee significant growth in such collaborative arrangement in telecom industry in Pakistan”, said Dr. Waqar Mahmood, Director KICS-UET.

Lt. Gen. (R) Muhammad Akram Khan, Vice-Chancellor of UET, said “This is an achievement, not just for UET and wi-tribe, but for the entire telecom industry. KICS-UET is extremely proud of this successful collaboration with wi-tribe and looks forward to continuing the partnership. wi-cam is innovation brought to life by Pakistani students and graduates, showcasing local capabilities.”

By significantly enhancing customer care, wi-cam has already begun to revolutionize customer experience and promises to do so for the industry at large. Going ahead, wi-tribe is looking forward to continuing its contribution to the industry’s growth through such initiatives, especially those showcasing the technology-capable youth of Pakistan.

Naeem Yahya Mir has assumed the charge of Managing Director, Pakistan State Oil.

A commercial marketing and refining expert Mr. Naeem Yahya has over 21 years of experience in leading national and multi-national oil companies with an emphasis in downstream operations including marketing, distribution, refining and shipping. Most recently he held the post of Technical Advisor-International Marketing at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

Combining in-depth technical knowledge and an extensive experience of marketing POL products including motor gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, LPG and jet fuel, Mr. Naeem has developed expertise in multiple disciplines including sales and marketing, supply chain management, quality control, product development, refinery upgrades and workforce development.