Business
PM Shehbaz directs investor facilitation, regulatory reforms to boost exports | The Express Tribune
Special Economic Zones contributed 3.7% to exports; govt aims to raise share to 8% by 2028, officials brief PM
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a review meeting in Islamabad today on measures to promote investment. PHOTO: RADIO PAKISTAN
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed authorities to provide “all necessary facilities” to both domestic and foreign investors to help boost exports, while calling for regulatory compliance to be simplified and made less costly, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Chairing a high-level review meeting in Islamabad on measures to promote investment, PM Shehbaz said that promoting investment remains the government’s “top priority” for economic growth.
The prime minister emphasised the need to strengthen coordination between the government and investors, urging officials to accelerate the digitisation of licensing and other public services. “All systems for access to licences and services should be digitised at a faster pace,” he said.
اسلام آباد : 28 اپریل، 2026.
وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف نے ملک میں سرمایہ کاری کے فروغ پر جائزہ اجلاس کی صدارت کی.
اجلاس سے گفتگو کرتے ہوئے وزیرِ اعظم نے کہا کہ ملک میں اقتصادی ترقی کیلئے سرمایہ کاری کا فروغ حکومت کی اولین ترجیح ہے. برآمدات بڑھانے کے لیے ملکی اور غیر ملکی… pic.twitter.com/Xs056GEb3T
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PakPMO) April 28, 2026
The meeting was informed that Special Economic Zones (SEZs) contributed 3.7% to exports between July and March of the current fiscal year. Officials said the government aims to increase this share to 8% by 2028. Briefing participants, officials added that 21 SEZs are currently operational, with the number expected to rise to 26 by June 2026.
A “business-ready action plan” is also being prepared in consultation with provincial governments to further facilitate investment, while a Pakistan Regulatory Registry is being established to streamline approvals through digital platforms.
The prime minister said the creation of the Special Investment Facilitation Council had already helped improve investor confidence, adding that reforms under the Ease of Doing Business framework would reduce red tape and expand digital services.
The meeting was attended by senior cabinet members, including Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja, and Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, along with other senior officials.
Business
FDA proposes excluding Novo, Lilly weight loss drugs from bulk compounding list in win for the companies
The headquarters of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Silver Spring, Maryland, Nov. 4, 2009.
Jason Reed | Reuters
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed excluding the active ingredients in Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly‘s blockbuster obesity and diabetes medications from the list of drugs that outsourcing facilities can use for compounding in bulk.
If that proposal is finalized, the exclusion would likely limit the mass compounding — or the making of custom, often cheaper alternatives — of those medicines unless they appear on the FDA’s drug shortage list. The agency said it will consider public comments, which can be submitted until late June, before making a final decision.
The FDA finds “no clinical need” for outsourcing facilities to compound them from bulk drug substances, the agency said in a release.
The proposal includes semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo’s obesity drug Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, and tirzepatide, which is in Lilly’s weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes shot Mounjaro. It also covers Novo’s older molecule liraglutide.
“When FDA-approved drugs are available, outsourcing facilities cannot lawfully compound using bulk drug substances unless there is a clear clinical need,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in the release.
The agency’s proposal specifically targets 503B outsourcing facilities, which manufacture compounded drugs in bulk with or without prescription and are largely regulated by FDA guidelines.
The proposal does not impact 503A pharmacies, which make compounded drugs according to individual prescriptions for a specific patient and are largely regulated by states rather than the FDA.
Lilly and Novo have invested billions to ramp up manufacturing capacity over the last several years, which has helped alleviate supply constraints. The companies have also pursued efforts to make their branded medications more affordable to win over users who had flocked to cheaper compounded medications.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said in an interview on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday that “most of our gas now comes from Montana in the (US) Midwest”.
It is not the first time that Mr Farage has made a similar claim. Earlier in April he said: “Most of the gas we currently import comes from Montana.”
Evaluation
The US is only the third largest source of the UK’s gas supply, and the second largest foreign supplier. It is the largest supplier of liquid natural gas, the type that is transported by ship, rather than pipeline.
It is unclear why Mr Farage mentioned Montana specifically. Montana is not a major gas producing state.
The facts
Provisional data for 2025 shows that the UK’s own production of gas was 332,444 gigawatt hours (GWh). The country imported 463,692 GWh of gas. Of that, 320,249 GWh came from Norway and 104,360 GWh came from the US.
All the gas imported from the US was liquid natural gas (LNG) – the type that is super-chilled and transported by ship rather than in pipelines. The US was the UK’s largest supplier of LNG.
But it unclear how much – if any – of the UK’s gas comes from Montana specifically.
Data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that in 2024, the US produced a total of 37.7 trillion cubic feet of dry gas. Of this Montana accounted for around 40.0 billion cubic feet, or 0.1% of the total US production.
EIA data also show that Montana’s gas production was lower than its consumption of gas.
However, this does not mean that the state does not export any of its gas to other states or countries.
A 2023 report from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality said that while “Montana currently consumes more natural gas than it produces” a “significant portion” of the state’s production is exported.
Data from the US Census Bureau show that the US exported 2.8 billion US dollars worth of natural gas to the UK in 2025. This came from four states: Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland and Texas.
The data shows the state that the gas was exported from, not where the gas was actually initially produced. Although they are major LNG exporters, Maryland and Georgia produce little to no natural gas themselves.
The US Census Bureau data also show that Montana exported 525,083 US dollars worth of natural gas in 2025, all of which went to Canada.
A 2021 report from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Trade said that the UK was the fifth largest export market for Montana in 2019, selling 39 million US dollars worth of goods to the UK.
It listed the main goods exports from Montana to the UK in 2019 as electrical equipment, basic chemicals, navigational and measurement instruments, aerospace products and parts, and miscellaneous general purpose machinery.
There is no mention of gas in that report.
The US Census Bureau does not define Montana as being part of the Midwest.
Links
Facebook video (archived video download)
Gov.uk – Natural gas supply and consumption (archived page and spreadsheet)
Gov.uk – Natural gas imports (archived page and spreadsheet)
EIA – Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals and Production (archived)
EIA – Natural Gas Summary, Montana (archived)
Montana Department of Environmental Quality – Understanding energy in Montana (archived)
US Census Bureau – Foreign Trade (archived page and spreadsheet download)
EIA – Natural Gas Summary, Georgia (archived)
Gov.uk – UK-Montana trade and investment highlights (archived)
US Census Bureau – 12 States Make up the Midwest Region of the Country (archived)
The Bank of England votes for no immediate change to borrowing costs as it monitors the knock-on effects of the Middle East conflict.
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