Lahore, Pakistan News

About Lahore, Pakistan

Lahore is the commercial center of Pakistan. As of 2005, the city's gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity (PPP) is estimated at $28 billion with an average growth rate of 5.9 percent, ranked 122nd in the world.

This makes Lahore's GDP to equal 51% of Karachi's, in line with it having 51% of the population of Karachi. Thus the contribution of Lahore to the national economy comes up to 13%.

Which is 51% of the figure of Karachi contributing 25% of Pakistan's total GDP. Central to Lahore's economy is the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE), Pakistan's second largest stock exchange.

Lahore has offices of all Pakistani government corporations including the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA).

It also hosts the country's largest information technology (IT) companies, most of which are located in the IT park, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of Pakistan's software exports. Food and restaurant businesses remain open all night.

The shopping markets are usually open late into the night. Lahore is the second largest financial hub of Pakistan and has industrial areas including Kot Lakhpat and the new Sundar Industrial Estate.

As Lahore expands, former residential areas are being turned into commercial centres, and the suburban population is constantly moving outwards.

This has resulted in the development of the Liberty Market, the MM Alam Road, the new Jail Road (which has some of the largest office buildings in Lahore), and the new eight-lane Main Boulevard, which has some of Lahore's largest and finest shopping centres.

The suburban population's move from commercial areas to less busy areas supports a thriving construction industry and several large housing projects including Bahria Town, Lake City, Eden Villas, and a project by the Dhabi Group (a joint Pakistan-UAE partnership) to construct a new city on the outskirts of Lahore.

Lahore is famous as the hub of hand-made carpet manufacturing in Pakistan. At present, hand-knitted carpets produced in and around Lahore are among Pakistan's leading export products, and their manufacturing is the second-largest cottage and small industry.

Lahore-based carpet exports make up nearly 85 percent of all carpet exports from Pakistan. Craftsmen in Lahore can produce any type of carpet using popular motifs such as medallions, paisleys, traceries, and geometric designs.

The Lahore Design Centre at the Punjab Small Industries Corporation maintains a separate section of carpet designing to experiment with new designs.

Other Major Cities:

• Kar āchi
• Faisalabad
• Rāwalpindi
• Multān
• Hyderābād
• Gujrānwāla
• Peshāwar
• Quetta
• Islāmābād
• Sargodha
• Siālkot
• Bahāwalpur