Business

Uber inks MoU with PITB

Move meant to bring economic opportunities for SMEs and individuals

Our Correspondent April 20, 2016

PHOTO: AFP

LAHORE: Uber, the global taxi-dispatch service app, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) on Wednesday in a bid to promote the effective use of technology in Lahore.

The MoU is aimed at developing technology that would bring additional safety and convenience for residents in Lahore along with economic opportunities for individuals and small and medium enterprises.

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“Uber delivers high quality service throughout the world and the PIBT is proud to partner with it in order to introduce a reliable transportation option in Punjab,” said PIBT Chairman Dr Umar Saif.

Uber has only been operational in Pakistan for a month. Pakistan is Uber’s 69th country in terms of expanding operations.

The company recently announced $250 million investment in the MENA region and Pakistan, with a large portion of it going into expansion across Pakistan for wider network of drivers and a larger team.

“Uber has transformed urban mobility for thousands of Lahoriites by introducing a safe, reliable and affordable way to move around the city,” said Uber Senior International Launcher Loic Amado.

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“The flexibility, entrepreneurial opportunity and earning potential of Uber’s innovative technology have had an equally transformational impact on the livelihoods of driver partners and their families,” he added.

PITB and Uber also plan to collaborate in building smart cities for the future.

“We believe the MoU is a great example of what the private sector and civil society can achieve by working together with the best interest of local community at heart.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2016.

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COMMENTS (6)

Tech Analyst | 8 years ago | Reply @human of whatever... what you have said about business model and losses and everything.. my question is cant it be done by Pakistanis? cant they make a revenue generating application? Are we Pakistani so naive that we cant develop any successful web based or app based business? And yes these social networking giants are taking multi millions dollars out of Pak. Do you know how many businesses pay FB and Instagram for their post boosts? Ranging from very small business to blue chip companies? Do you know how many google adwords are being used by Paki markets? You need to crunch numbers befor becoming a Keyboard Warrior. There are a few examples like pakwheels.com and zameen.com, but who was the pioneer of online classified ads? Read about craiglist.com. I said unity because here in Pakistan everyone is looking for self gain even at the expense of their fellow man, they dont think of mutual benefits they just think of what I am gonna gain and how soon. Unity leads to partnerships and strong partnerships leads to greater business success. Lack of unity and short term approach is a recepie of failure.

human of pindi bhattian | 8 years ago | Reply @Tech analyst: evidently, you have no idea what is tech all about. What does "unity" have to do with it, at all? Your constricted insight makes you think that Uber is all about a mere taxi app. Cant feel astonished more. Janab, its about creating a business plan, making it commercially viable, convincing people to adopt your service, suffering loss while building market, braving adversaries and what not. If it were so simple as creating a phone app, And facebook, youtube etc are taking millions of dollars out of pk? Really? Janab, it cant be more than a few mil. Ads in our country are worth peanuts, if any at all. Publishers dont make as much money as your clueless "tech analyst" self make you believe. I guess it is a side effect of modern media, that it makes everyone expert at everything.