Briefs

Pakistani brands to open stores in India

Pakistani designers and branded retailers are planning to launch exclusive outlets in India as the governments of both countries push for improving trade relations that will open the gates for retailers to officially do cross-border businesses.

"We would definitely like to open up stores in India. Our fabric is already being exported to stores in India. However, textile duties are still quite high and we would want them to come down," said Mian Mansha, Pakistan's first billionaire and head of the diversified Nishat Group talking to TNN at Pakistan's Lifestyle exhibition at Pragati Maidan recently. While a few retailers from Pakistan have been exporting their products to India via Dubai and Singapore, brand owners are hoping that trade curbs are removed so that they can directly meet the demand for muslin, lawn, and pret in India.
-TNN

Indo-Pak cultural pact in the offing

An India-Pakistan pact for exchange in music, dance, theatre and visual arts is in the officing as the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) renews a dialogue with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), said Tauqeer Nasir, director general PNCA.

"Six years ago, the two countries had decided to sign an MoU with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, but it was stuck for cultural exchange. We want to carry the MoU forward to promote people-to-people contact. Every Pakistani heart is open... India should also open the door of its heart to Pakistani art and culture," he added. Speaking to journalists in New Delhi during his recent visit, Nasir, said that like "bilateral trade, culture is also trade. We want to push it. India and Pakistan have so much in common. The two countries share a civilisational link since ancient Mohenjodaro and Harappa era."

"We want to host exhibitions of Indian art in Pakistan, invite cultural icons from India to Pakistan. I want to invite Gulzar and organise fusion festival Indian and Pakistani dance. We should think of ways to remove obstacles that impede cultural exchange because cultural exchange promotes peace."
Pakistan's Hum TV channel is in the process of tying up with Zee TV in India.
Nasir said "over the last year, PNCA has been organising Sufi Aman festivals of music and dance across the country and promoting artists from ethnic areas like Waziristan to bring tribal arts to the mainstream".

- ZeeNews

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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