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ISLAMABAD: Interest in Pakistan’s fintech and crypto markets is rising, with more than a dozen Saudi companies signaling plans to invest after engaging Pakistani firms at a major financial technology gathering in Riyadh last week, according to the Pakistan Fintech Network (PFN) on Wednesday.

The Money20/20 Middle East conference, held in the Saudi capital from September 15 to 17, was aligned with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which seeks to foster innovation in financial services, strengthen collaboration between regulators, investors and startups and position Riyadh as a global fintech hub. The event brought together more than 450 brands, 600 investors and 350 speakers from over 40 countries.

According to PFN, more than 25 Pakistani fintech firms showcased their solutions at the forum, signing agreements and exploring opportunities in the Saudi market.

“They are interested in crypto exchanges, loan-lending fintech companies and financial institutions to tap the Pakistani market,” PFN CEO Fahad Sajjad told Arab News.

He said the “highly encouraging” response reflected Saudi demand for innovation and added that investors were closely watching the development of Pakistan’s crypto framework.

“The Saudi market is hungry for innovation and offers vast potential that Pakistani fintech firms can tap into through collaborations,” Sajjad said.

Among the announcements tied to the event, Pakistani fintech startup ABHI unveiled a partnership with TRAY, a Saudi cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) and business management platform.

The agreement introduces Earned Wage Access (EWA) services to ����ֱ��’s fast-growing food and beverage sector.

EWA is a financial solution that enables employees to withdraw part of their earned salary at any time before payday, eliminating the need to wait until the end of the month. Under the deal, ABHI’s technology will be integrated into TRAY’s enterprise POS ecosystem, covering restaurants, cafés and cloud kitchens across the Kingdom.

“The response at Money20/20 was amazing,” Omair Ansari, ABHI’s CEO and co-founder, said. “We signed eight memorandums of understanding in total, and TRAY has already gone live with ABHI, with more big names to follow soon.”

“This will empower employees with instant access to their salaries, helping reduce turnover and strengthen retention in one of the Kingdom’s most dynamic industries,” he added.

Founded in 2021, ABHI offers EWA, payroll solutions and SME financing. It has already expanded into the UAE, ����ֱ�� and Bangladesh while attracting major international investment.

The company entered the Saudi market last year through a partnership with Alraedah, a principal SME financing institution in the Kingdom.

“Soon more names will be going live in the upcoming weeks or in the start of October,” Ansari said.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s top economic decision-making body on Wednesday approved the import of used cars, drawing sharp criticism from industry stakeholders, who warned the move would have a “devastating” effect on local manufacturing in the country. 

The decision was taken after a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) which was chaired virtually by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb from New York. The ECC said initially only vehicles not older than five years will be allowed to be imported until Jun. 30, after which the age limit will be removed. 

The decision comes on the eve of the IMF mission’s arrival in Pakistan for its second review of the country’s economy under a $7 billion loan program. The global lender, among various other stipulations, requires Islamabad to liberalize its trade and lift restrictions on the import of used cars.

“The ECC considered a summary regarding the commercial import of used vehicles and, after detailed discussion, accorded approval to the proposals,” the finance ministry’s statement said. 

It said the ECC has approved changes to the Import Policy Order, 2022, to allow the commercial import of used vehicles subject to strict environmental and safety standards compliance.

The committee approved the imposition of a 40 percent regulatory duty (RD) in addition to existing customs duties on the import of vehicles less than five years old.

The additional duty will remain in place until June 2026 and will keep decreasing by 10 percentage points every year to become zero by fiscal year 2029-30, the statement added. 

‘DEVASTATING IMPACT’

Auto manufacturers, assemblers and part makers in Pakistan like Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia Motors and Changan Automobile fear the move would inflict heavy losses on their business and ultimately lead to the closure of their manufacturing plants.

“It is a major and fundamental change in the import policy of the country,” Abdul Waheed Khan, director general at Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), told Arab News.

“Notwithstanding 40 percent extra tariff, it would flood the market with used vehicles and destroy the local manufacturing,” he noted. 

Pakistan’s dollar shortages and resultant inventory losses made recent years challenging for local car makers, whose production declined by 51 percent to 111,402 units in fiscal year 2025, from 226,433 units in fiscal year 2022, when production peaked to a three-decade high, according to PAMA’s data.

The Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts & Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) said it is “extremely concerned” about the ECC decision.

“It will have a devastating impact on an industry which is providing jobs to 300,000 people directly and 1.83 million Pakistanis indirectly,” Shehryar Qadir, the association’s senior vice chairman, told Arab News.

PAAPAM fears the closure of 1,200 companies that have been manufacturing and supplying steel, plastic, rubber, copper, aluminum and auxiliary parts to all 13 car assemblers in Pakistan.

“It will negatively impact upcoming investments in localization and in assembly of electric vehicles in the country,” he warned.

The association said it would “wait for the conditions and rationale behind this decision.”

Topline Securities analyst Shankar Talreja said low-end cars or hatchbacks were primarily dominating Pakistan’s used car imports.

“This [approval] may result in higher imports of used cars, as currently cars are imported using baggage or gift schemes, which restrict bulk purchase,” he said. “Similarly, with the subsequent decline in RDs over the year, the imports of mid-end cars may also rise”.

The analyst said Pakistan’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $14 billion last week, will be strained as imports of used cars increase. 

“(The) reserves will be used against this decision,” Talreja said. 

However, he said that since the government has imposed some qualitative/non-tariff barriers, it would provide some respite to car makers and Pakistan’s forex reserves. 

Khan, however, does not see any respite for the auto manufacturing industry.

“One vehicle’s import means one vehicle’s loss at the production line,” he said. “They are rivals.”